Why do I need to know nix?

Because it’s a German word that’s really short and easy to say. And once you know it, you’ll use it all the time in conversations with your German friends (and hear it a lot).

What does it mean?

Nix is the colloquial word for nichts which translates to “nothing”. You’d use this in a relaxed setting, rather than a formal one such as a job interview. 

What is interesting is that nichts can actually be quite hard for non-native German speakers to pronounce, so lots of non-Germans will say nix instead without trying for that version. But many native Germans prefer to use the slang pronunciation anyway.

And, as the tweet below by German journalist Jens Clasen shows, it doesn’t have to just mean “nothing”. You can also use it to add to your sentence, whether you want to negate or deny something.

Meanwhile, gar nix translates to “nothing at all”. 

The German word "nix" (vulg. for "nichts") means "nothing".

But it's more than nothing:

Nix da! = No way!
nix los = nothing going on
Nix wie weg! = Let's run away!
nix für ungut = no offense
Nix zu danken. = You're welcome.

Nix verstanden? Macht nix!*

Enjoy our language!

1/4

— Jens Clasen (@jenshealthde) July 27, 2022

One other thing to note that as a noun, (der) Nix means merman, the male version of a mermaid.

Use it like this:

Du musst mir gar nix erklären.

You don’t have to explain anything at all to me. 

Nix cool, das ist furchtbar!

This isn’t cool, it’s terrible!

Nix fertig, mach weiter!

You’re not done, keep going!