Ch 1 · Lesson 32Russian · Chapter 1 · Lesson 32 · Grammar primer
Никто не знает: the double negative
, and bring a second with them: , nobody not knows. In Russian that is the only correct way to say it.
The short version
Nobody, nothing and never all need a ne
. (Ya nichego ne vizhu.)
Why?Hide
Every Russian word for nobody, nothing or never begins with ni-, and none of them negates a verb on its own: the verb still needs ne in front of it. Nikto ne znaet is literally nobody not knows, and it is the only correct way to say it. Read the ni-word as any and the double negative stops looking strange.
ни: the double negative, and why it is compulsory
Russian builds its negative pronouns and adverbs by putting ни- on the front of the question words:
| Question word | Ни-word | English |
|---|---|---|
| | nobody |
| | nothing |
| | never |
| | (to) nowhere |
| | nowhere |
| | no, not any kind of |
Every one of them must have in front of the verb:
Nobody knows. I see nothing. He never calls.
.- Nobody knows..- I see nothing. / I can't see anything..- He never calls..- I'm not going anywhere.
The -word does not negate anything by itself. It is closer to English any: does the negating, and the -word says how far the negation reaches. Read as I don't see anything and the logic stops looking strange.
The system also stacks. Pile up as many -words as the sentence has room for, and there is still exactly one :
.- Nobody ever says anything.
Two more details. The -words decline like the words they came from, so becomes as an object:
.- I don't know anybody.
And with a preposition, the ни- splits off and the preposition goes in the middle:
.- She isn't talking to anybody..- We aren't thinking about anything.
Going further: не: the basic negator and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
Practice
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Lesson 32 of 43 in this chapter