Put не directly before the word you want to negate. Use нет to answer “no”, and to say something doesn’t exist (followed by the genitive). With “nobody”, “nothing” and “never”, keep the не as well.
1. не goes right before the word you negate
English needs a helper: “I don’t know”. Russian just puts не (ni) before the word. Move не, and you change what’s being denied. Tap each version to compare.
2. нет: “there isn’t” + the genitive
When нет means “there is no…” or “I don’t have…”, the missing thing goes into the genitive case. In the past and future, нет becomes не́ бы́ло and не бу́дет.
| There is … | There isn’t … | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| хлеб → хле́ба: masculine adds -а. | ||
| сестра́ → сестры́: feminine -а → -ы. | ||
| метро́ never changes. | ||
| Past: не́ бы́ло (always neuter) + genitive. | ||
| Future: не бу́дет + genitive. |
3. Double negatives: ни- + не
Words like “nobody” and “never” start with ни- in Russian. They always come with не before the verb. Literally, “Nobody doesn’t know”, but it simply means “Nobody knows”. You can stack several: Никто́ никогда́ ничего́ не говори́л, “Nobody ever said anything”.
4. “Neither … nor”: ни … ни
Put ни before each item, and keep не before the verb, as with other ни- words.
5. Saying no politely
A bare “Нет.” can sound abrupt. Russians usually add thanks or a reason. These eight cover most situations, from turning down tea to declining an invitation.
6. Can’t, mustn’t, no need
These four words turn a sentence into a ban, a refusal or a “don’t bother”. Use the dative for the person: мне нельзя́, “I’m not allowed”.
7. Negative commands
“Don’t …!” is не + the imperfective command. Не забу́дь (don’t forget) is the common exception: it’s a warning, so perfective.
8. “There’s nothing to do”: не́кого, не́чего
Stressed не́- words mean “there’s no one / nothing / nowhere to …”. Put the person in the dative and add an infinitive.
9. Make it negative
Choose the correct Russian for each English sentence.