Ni........ni

I have just completed the lesson on ni……..ni…… (13.2)

1. No quiero hablar con ella, ni cenar con ella.
2. No quiero ni hablar con ella ni cenar con ella.

Can these both be correct grammar, or do we have to use 'ni' twice as in no 2?

Thanks

¡Hola, Malcolm-qdfo!

Thanks for your question! Both of these sentences are indeed correct; their meaning is just subtly different.

The sentence No quiero hablar con ella ni cenar con ella means “(I) don't want to talk to her or eat dinner with her.” Here, the word ni “nor” is essentially a negative version of o “or”: o “or” only appears in positive sentences, and gets replaced by ni “nor” in negative sentences. 

The sentence No quiero ni hablar con ella ni cenar con ella, on the other hand, means “(I) want neither to talk to her nor to eat dinner with her.” This uses the negative construction ni … ni “neither … nor.” 

Let me know if you still have any questions!

Saludos,

Liss