A ring R is (weakly) nil clean provided that every element in R is the sum of a (weak) idempotent and a nilpotent. We characterize nil and weakly nil matrix rings over abelian rings. Let R be abelian, and let n 2 N. We prove that Mn(R) is nil clean if and only if R/J(R) is Boolean and Mn(J(R)) is nil. Furthermore, we prove that R is weakly nil clean if and only if R is periodic; R/J(R) is Z3, B or Z3 B where B is a Boolean ring, and that Mn(R) is weakly nil clean if and only if Mn(R) is nil clean for all n > 2., Nahid Ashrafi, Marjan Sheibani, Huanyin Chen., and Seznam literatury