"We do not have anything on the plate."

Translation: Non abbiamo nulla nel piatto.

[ackworth]

Qualcosa also means anything; could someone explain why it is not an option in this sentence? Grazie.

[kardelo]

"Qualcosa" does mean "anything", but only in positive sentences; not when you negate.

I don't like anything.
I like anything.

Even though it's the same word, its meaning is much different. In Italian it'd be:

Non mi piace niente.
Mi piace qualcosa.

In the sentence of this exercise, it's a negative sentence, so you need to indicate that "We have nothing on the plate", or what would be the same "We don't have anything on the plate.".

That's why you can't use "qualcosa", and you need "nulla".

[tango-alpha]

I agree. Especially since it's one of the hints.

[AntonyHodgson]

I think (though stand to be corrected) that Italian, like French, often uses double negatives to make a negative construct. To Anglicize it, Italians would say "We do not have nothing". For example, "I have nothing" would be "Non ho niente". 'Qualcosa' is a positive, so does not complete the double negative pairing.

[xyphax]

Correct .. even triple negatives. This site helps to see the pattern

http://italian.about.com/library/fare/blfare141a.htm

[Marninger]

We do not have = non abbiamo
anything = niente / nulla *1
on the plate = nel piatto

*1 as it is a negative statement qualcosa (qualche+cosa= some+thing) cannot be used.

[AlexBuxton]

Qualcosa translates as something not anything anything literally is qualsiasi cosa but italians use double negative

[egregor1]

niente, nulla, nessuna.....? Confused

[Neil151806]

Why nulla and not nullo?

[Ariaflame]

Because we're not talking about the adjective nulla/nullo, but the pronoun/adverb form. Which is only nulla. http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/italian-english/nulla

[Neil151806]

OK, thanks

[Giovanna282584]

Il nulla = niente. Learned something new, grazie!

[Vye1]

Why not "non abbiamo nulla sul piatto"?

[lexablackbird]

Good question; it accepted "Non abbiamo niente sul piatto."

[sapolion]

I would like to really know the differences for all the answers. As an (American) English speaker a case can be made for all the answers.

[AntonyHodgson]

Ognuna most often means 'each one' and Nessuna most commonly means 'no-one', so only 'nulla' really has the sense of 'no object'.

[01nick1988]

What's the distinction between these and 'non abbiamo niente'? It's marked correct, but I'm curious if there's any distinction

[Ariaflame]

I think niente and nulla are frequently interchangeable.

[OrkunSaipD]

So, nessuna refers to people while the other one, i mean nulla, is referring to the object. Right? And they are not interchangable

[mercede777]

noi non ha cosa su gli piatto
says I am wrong but I am right ;
just said it differently is all
more than one way to skin a mule you know