How to say "nil" in Japanese

• 皆無かいむCommon
  na-adjective, no-adjectiveCovers 'nil' in the sense 'none at all' — the complete absence of something. It emphasizes totality, as in saying that the risk, chance or evidence of something is nil.
• 無むJLPT N3approx.Common
  nounDenotes 'nothing' or 'naught' in an abstract sense. As 'nil' it is marginal: a score or figure is ゼロ, 'none at all' is 皆無, so this is seldom the word you want.
  無むから有ゆうは生しょうじない。↗

  Nothing comes from nothing.
• ゼロJLPT N5approx.Common
  nounCovers 'nil' as a number: a score, figure or reading that is zero. When English 'nil' is simply 0, as in a team winning two-nil, this is the natural word.
  ゼロという概念がいねんはヒンドゥー文化ぶんかに由来ゆらいしている。↗

  The concept of zero sprang from the Hindu culture.

Use 「ゼロ」 when nil is a number or score, 皆無 when something is entirely absent ('none at all'), and 無 only for the abstract sense of nothingness or naught, where it is rarely the natural rendering of 'nil'.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• 皆無かいむnonexistent
• 無むnothing
• ゼロzero
• 絶無ぜつむnothing