не with the verb, няма for what is not there, and the obligatory double negative: ніхто не, нічога не, ніколі не. Why 'nobody didn't come' is the correct Belarusian sentence.
I can deny a statement, say that something or somebody is not there, and use the negative pronouns with the compulsory particle не.
Подивіться на ці приклади. Чи можете ви помітити граматичну закономірність?
У мяне сёння няма часу.
I have no time today.
Ніхто нічога не ведае пра гэта.
Nobody knows anything about it.
Мы ніколі не былі ў Белавежскай пушчы.
We have never been to the Bielaviezhskaja Pushcha.
Ты стаміўся? — Не, зусім не.
Are you tired? - No, not at all.
Зверніть увагу на виділені частини. Що у них спільного?
Belarusian negates with the particle не, written as a separate word and standing directly before what it denies:
Where не stands changes what is being denied — the last example negates the language, not the speaking.
To say something is not there, Belarusian does not use не with a verb. It uses няма, and the thing that is absent goes into the genitive:
The past and future of this construction are не было and не будзе, and the genitive stays: У мяне не было часу.
English allows exactly one negative word per clause. Belarusian requires the negative pronoun and the negative particle together:
| Belarusian | Literally | English |
|---|---|---|
| Ніхто не прыйшоў. | nobody not came | Nobody came. |
| Я нічога не ведаю. | I nothing not know | I know nothing. |
| Мы ніколі не былі ў Брэсце. | we never not were in Brest | We have never been to Brest. |
| Яе нідзе не відаць. | her nowhere not visible | She is nowhere to be seen. |
Dropping the не is not a stylistic choice; the sentence is simply ungrammatical without it.
Ні repeated joins two negated items: Ні чаю, ні кавы — neither tea nor coffee. Ён не піша ні па-беларуску, ні па-англійску.
The state orthography writes the particle as не in every position. The classical spelling (тарашкевіца), which you will meet in older books and in some independent publishing, writes ня before a stressed syllable: ня быў. Both traditions mean the same word; only the spelling differs.
Two habits have to go. First, the auxiliary: there is no equivalent of do not, so не attaches straight to the verb. Second, the ban on double negatives — here it is reversed, and a single negative word on its own is the error.
Застосуйте цю граматику у вправах курсу A1
Вправи для практикиTypical errors: building the English single negative (Ніхто прыйшоў without не), which is ungrammatical; looking for an auxiliary like do not; and using не with a verb where няма plus the genitive is required.
Error with Адмаўленне
Review Адмаўленне.
У мяне сёння няма часу.
I have no time today.
<em>Няма</em>, not <em>не</em>, and the thing absent goes into the genitive: <em>час</em> becomes <strong>часу</strong>.
Ніхто нічога не ведае пра гэта.
Nobody knows anything about it.
Three negatives in one clause and all three are required. English would allow only one.
Мы ніколі не былі ў Белавежскай пушчы.
We have never been to the Bielaviezhskaja Pushcha.
<em>Ніколі</em> still needs <em>не</em>. The Bielaviezhskaja Pushcha is the last remnant of the primeval forest that once covered the plain, and home to the European bison.
Ты стаміўся? — Не, зусім не.
Are you tired? - No, not at all.
As a one-word answer, "no" is <strong>не</strong>. <em>Няма</em> would be wrong here: it says something is absent, not that the answer is negative.
На стале ні хлеба, ні солі.
On the table there is neither bread nor salt.
Repeated <em>ні</em> with the genitive. Bread and salt are what a Belarusian household traditionally meets a guest with, so the sentence reads as a pointed absence.
Практикувати в курсі
Застосуйте цю граматику у вправах курсу A1