Ni l'un(e) ni l'autre ne... means neither one nor the other or neither (of them).
Look at these examples:
J'ai appelé Paul et Hadrien, mais ni l'un ni l'autre n'a répondu.
I called Paul and Hadrien, but neither one nor the other answered
Qu'en est-il de Julien et Sophie? - Ni l'un ni l'autre ne peut venir.
What about Julien and Sophie? - Neither one nor the other can come
Mes filles sont bonnes en maths, mais ni l'une ni l'autre n'est bonne en français.
My daughters are good in maths, but neither [one nor the other] is good in French.
L'un/l'une agrees in gender with its antecedent.
Note also that the verb following is conjugated as with il/elle.
Ni l'un/e ni l'autre can also be used on its own to express neither:
Quel parfum tu veux ? Fraise ou vanille? - Ni l'un ni l'autre.
What flavour do you want ? Strawberry or vanilla? - Neither.
Tu aimes Fiona ou Pauline? - Ni l'une ni l'autre.
Do you love Fiona or Pauline? - Neither.
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
J'ai appelé Paul et Hadrien, mais ni l'un ni l'autre n'a répondu.
I called Paul and Hadrien, but neither one nor the other answered
Quel parfum tu veux ? Fraise ou vanille? - Ni l'un ni l'autre.
What flavour do you want ? Strawberry or vanilla? - Neither.
Mes filles sont bonnes en maths, mais ni l'une ni l'autre n'est bonne en français.
My daughters are good in maths, but neither [one nor the other] is good in French.
Tu aimes Fiona ou Pauline? - Ni l'une ni l'autre.
Do you love Fiona or Pauline? - Neither.
Qu'en est-il de Julien et Sophie? - Ni l'un ni l'autre ne peut venir.
What about Julien and Sophie? - Neither one nor the other can come
Q&A

Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
21/11/18
Bonjour Max !
We've now updated the lesson :)
Merci et bonne journée !
Max
Kwiziq community member
21/11/18

Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
26/07/18
Hi Tom,
Both sentences are similar in meaning and correct.
Aucune des deux ne vient = Neither is coming
Ni l'une ni l'autre ne vient= Neither one nor the other is coming
Hope this helps!
helen
Kwiziq community member
30/01/18
Chris
Kwiziq community member
31/01/18
You can say either: "aucun n'a répondu" or "personne n'a répondu".
They mean about the same thing with a slight difference in connotation:
"aucun" seems to imply a known group of people of which nobody replied. "personne" is simply "nobody".
Comparing it to English, it seems to me that "aucun" is similar to "none" and "personne" to "nobody".
-- Chris (not a native speaker).

Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
31/01/18
Bonjour Helen !
To complete Chris's answer, here is a link to our related lessons:
https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/grammar/how-to-say-none-ne-aucun-e-negative-expressions
https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/grammar/aucun-e-ne-none-of-them
Bonne journée !
helen
Kwiziq community member
31/01/18
Tom
Kwiziq community member
22/07/18
I believe that Aucun in the plural can be used with those nouns that only exist in a plural form and also for those nouns whose meanings differ from singular to plural.
e.g.Aucuns agrès (No equipment), Aucunes arrhes (No deposit); Aucuns frais (No charges).
Also,
D'aucuns (Some (people)) acting as an equivalent of Certains or Quelques-uns is sometimes used:
D'aucuns croient que la terre est plate.
Lanny
Kwiziq community member
28/07/17

Ron
Kwiziq community member
24/06/17
Andy
Kwiziq community member
25/06/17
Susan
Kwiziq community member
2/11/17

Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
23/12/18
Hi,
The actual question is " Quel parfum tu veux ? vanille ou fraise? "
Answer: " Ni l'un, ni l'autre", as it agrees with parfum which is masculine.
Hope you all read this...

Ron
Kwiziq community member
24/06/17
James
Kwiziq community member
25/06/17

Ron
Kwiziq community member
17/06/17
In the context of the phrase, ni. . .ni. . n'a mangé, it would translate as neither of them ate. However, literally speaking yes ni . . . ni is neither. . . nor.

Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
19/06/17
The translation of ni...ni... varies depending on sentences.
In the lesson you referred to, "ni l'un ni l'autre" literally mean "Neither one nor the other", which would sometimes be better translated in English as "Neither of them".
But I agree that it applies mostly to people, and we could prefer "neither one nor the other" when it comes (like here) to food...
I've therefore decided to update the lesson title to : Ni l'un(e) ni l'autre ne ... = Neither [one nor the other] (negation) :)
I hope that's helpful!
Merci beaucoup et à bientôt !

Michael
Kwiziq community member
20/06/17
James
Kwiziq community member
9/07/17
Tom
Kwiziq community member
23/07/18
I have read this thread attentively and am none the wiser as regards the fraise/vanille problème.
To quote Ron:
"
Note that l'un/l'une agrees in gender with the object it refers to.
Ni l'un/e ni l'autre can also be used on its own to express neither:
Tu veux fraise ou vanille? - Ni l'un ni l'autre.
Do you want strawberry or vanilla? - Neither.
"
Surely since frais/vanille has already been referenced the only valid reply in this case should be "ni l'une ni l'autre"
Am I not understanding properly?

Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
10/08/18
Bonjour Tom !
Ok, I completely agree that this example is confusing at best :)
The explanation is that here we're talking about flavours (ice cream, yoghurt...), which in French is masculine = un parfum.
Therefore, it's my humble opinion that that's why we use the masculine here, but I agree that it looks so illogical to non-French natives!
I've decided to rephrase this example, to make the antecedent clearer.
I hope that's helpful!
Bonne journée !
diana
Kwiziq community member
15/01/17

Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
16/01/17
diana
Kwiziq community member
16/01/17

Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
17/01/17
diana
Kwiziq community member
17/01/17

Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
21/11/16
Jay
Kwiziq community member
11 November 2018
1 reply
If there are three girls you can't say 'neither' it has to be 'none of them' so isn't 'aucune' correct to use here?be...
Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
13 November 2018
13/11/18
Hi Jay,
Can you give the full context?