How to say "nothing" in Japanese

• 無むJLPT N3approx.Common
  nounThe bare noun for nothing itself — 'naught' or 'nil'. It names absence as a thing or value (the 'nil' sense) rather than serving as the pronoun in an ordinary sentence.
  無むから有ゆうは生しょうじない。↗

  Nothing comes from nothing.
• ナッシングCommon
  nounThe straight loanword from English 'nothing'. It is not how you say 'there is nothing' in a Japanese sentence — that is 何も's job — so it is seldom the word a learner needs.
• 皆無かいむCommon
  na-adjective, no-adjectiveEmphatic 'none at all': it states that something is completely absent — the 'nothing (at all)' sense. Choose it when you want to declare flatly that there is none whatsoever of the thing in question.
• 何もなにもJLPT N3approx.Common
  expressionThe default for 'nothing' as a pronoun: with a negative verb it means 'not anything' or 'nothing at all'. When an English sentence simply uses 'nothing', this is usually the word.
  過あやまちのない者ものは何なんも作り出つくりだせない。↗

  He who makes no mistakes makes nothing.
• ゼロJLPT N5approx.Common
  nounThe numeral zero, which also covers 'nothing' as a value — the 'zilch' sense. Use it when the amount, count or score in question is literally zero, not for a pronoun 'nothing' in a sentence.

For 'nothing' as a pronoun in a sentence, use 「何も」 with a negative verb; 無 and 皆無 are nouns for absence ('nil', 'none at all'), 「ゼロ」 gives a zero value, and 「ナッシング」 is the English loanword.

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

• 無むnothing
• ナッシングnothing
• 皆無かいむnonexistent
• 何もなにも(not) anything
• 絶無ぜつむnothing
• 屁でもないへでもないof no concern
• なんでもないeasy
• 台無しだいなしspoiled
• ゼロnothing
• 何物なにものanything (else)
• ものthings
• 水泡すいほうnothing
• 何事もなにごともnothing
• どこもnowhere (with neg. verb)
• 水の泡みずのあわ(coming to) nothing