nichts

• nix (a very common colloquial pronunciation; frequently seen in informal writing)
• nischt (dialectal, widely restricted to eastern Germany)

From Middle High German nihtes niht (“nothing of nothing”), a reenforcing construction with niht. See nicht.[1] Cognate with Dutch niets, Hunsrik nichs.

• IPA^(key): /nɪçts/, /nixts/

• Audio

  (file)

• Audio

  (file)

nichts n (indefinite pronoun)

1. nothing

   Ich weiß, dass ich nichts weiß.

   I know that I know nothing.

• Used instead of nicht to negate a sentence involving a non-specific noun.

  Gibt es da etwas? Nein, ich sehe nichts. ― Is there something there? No, I don't see anything.

• Frequently, especially in spoken or informal language, accompanied by gar.

  Ich sehe gar nichts. ― I don't see anything at all.

Invariable. A following adjective is capitalized and declined as a neuter singular in the strong pattern. Thus nichts Neues (“nothing new”) in the nominative and accusative cases; nichts Neuem in the dative case.

A genitive form does not exist. It is paraphrased by means of the preposition von (“of”). After the prepositions statt, trotz, während, and wegen, the dative case is used instead: wegen nichts Wichtigem – “because of nothing important” (i.e. because of something unimportant).

• “nichts” in Duden online
• “nichts” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

nichts

1. plural of nicht