The ни-series with obligatory double negation (никто не пришёл), case forms, and ни у кого split prepositions
I can build multiple-negation sentences and split ни-pronouns around prepositions.
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
Я ни у кого ничего не просил — всё сделал сам.
I didn't ask anyone for anything — I did it all myself.
Об этом не знал никто, нигде и никогда не писали.
Nobody knew about it; it was never written about anywhere.
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
School English forbids "I didn't see nobody". Russian requires it. The ни- words (никто, ничего, нигде...) do not make a sentence negative on their own: the verb still needs its не.
| Russian | English |
|---|---|
| никто | nobody |
| ничто / ничего | nothing |
| никакой | no, not any (kind) |
| ничей | nobody's |
| нигде | nowhere (location) |
| никуда | nowhere (direction) |
| никогда | never |
| никак | in no way |
In everyday speech "nothing" as an object is ничего, the genitive: Я ничего не знаю.
Никто не пришёл. "Nobody came." Я никогда не был в Риме. "I have never been to Rome." And you can stack as many ни- words as you like, with a single не on the verb: Никто никогда никому ничего не говорит. "Nobody ever tells anybody anything."
When a preposition is needed, it goes between ни and the pronoun, and the result is written as three words: ни у кого, ни с кем, ни о чём. Я ни с кем не говорил. "I didn't talk to anyone."
A one-word answer needs no verb and no не: Кто пришёл? Никто. Что ты делаешь? Ничего.
Apply this grammar in A2 course exercises
Practice Exercisesне dropped with ни-words
ни-word always pairs with не on the verb
Preposition outside the pronoun
ни у кого, ни с кем, ни о чём
Я ни у кого ничего не просил — всё сделал сам.
I didn't ask anyone for anything — I did it all myself.
Split ни у кого + triple negation.
Об этом не знал никто, нигде и никогда не писали.
Nobody knew about it; it was never written about anywhere.
Stacked ни-words, one не per verb.
The check for this topic is still being prepared
Ready-made hints are free
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in A2 course exercises