The part of speech that combines words that only indicate objects, their attributes and quantitative characteristics, but do not name them, is a pronoun. It has eight digits, one of which is negative.
Defining negative pronouns
According to the classification, negative pronouns include words that indicate the absence of an object or its attribute. They are formed from interrogative words with the help of prefixes "not" or "neither". Moreover, “not” is always stressed, and the stress never falls on “neither.”
Negative pronouns: examples of grammatical divisions
All pronouns are divided into ranks according to semantic criteria. Whether they ask about something, whether they call someone, whether they deny something … The rank depends on this. But there are still grammatical signs according to which they can be divided into pronouns-nouns, pronouns-numerals, pronouns-adjectives and pronouns-adverbs.
For example, "no one" and "nothing" are negative pronouns-nouns,because they answer the questions “who”, “what”, decline in cases, and serve as the subject or object in the sentence:
- No one remembers homework, am I right?
- Nothing will become a stone wall in his path?
But never, nowhere, etc. are pronouns-adverbs. They do not change, and in the proposal they carry the mission of the circumstances.
For example:
Wladimir had nowhere to go - and he agreed
There are no pronouns-numerals and adjectives among representatives of the negative category.
Features of negative pronouns
Unlike most other parts of speech, words belonging to the category of negative pronouns do not have a single system of change. Some "representatives" do not have a nominative case, others do not have a gender and number, others can boast of a complete, so to speak, set of forms, and the fourth are hard as steel and have a single form.
Each of the negative pronouns is inflected exactly like the question word from which it is derived.
Changing the pronouns "nothing", "no one", "nothing", "no one"
The negative pronouns "nothing", "nobody", "nothing" and "no one" can change exclusively by case, as well as the interrogative pronouns that gave them life. They have no gender or number. Moreover, the words “nothing” and “no one” are never in the form of the nominative case. Their "countdown" begins with the genitive. The words "something" and "someone" are negativethey are not pronouns, but already belong to the category of indefinite ones.
Here are examples of sentences where these pronouns are used in different cases:
- It is strange that no one has expressed this painfully simple idea.
- Nothing to be surprised - his father was like that too!
- Nothing attracted Masha to visit her grandmother like her bedtime stories.
- Vasilisa has no one to care about.
Changing the pronouns "no" and "no"
The words "no" and "no" indicate that the feature is missing. Like their "prototypes" "whose" and "what", these pronouns have gender, number, and cases. Here are some examples:
- No gingerbread can lure him there now.
- There can be no talk of any indulgence.
- No parent received as much criticism as Petya's mother heard.
The role of negative pronouns in a sentence
Sentences with negative pronouns are very common in both spoken and written language. And these small but very important words can play a variety of roles. They are capable of both the role of the subject, and the addition, and the definition, and the circumstance, and even sometimes the predicate.
Here are sentences with negative pronouns in different variants:
- No one loves you more than your mother. (Subject).
- Your name is nobody! (Predicate).
- No one's words could be heard over the highway noise. (Definition).
- Please don't tell the coach anything - he will be nervous. (Supplement).
- Never forget her that first life lesson. (Circumstance).
Not or neither?
Spelling negative pronouns can cause difficulties not only for schoolchildren, but also sometimes for adult literate people. Nobody is immune from mistakes. By the way, why in this case the word "nobody" has an "and" in the prefix?
The spelling rule for "not", "neither" in negative pronouns is very simple and easy to remember. "E" is always stressed, and "and" - vice versa.
For example:
- nothing - nothing;
- no one - no one;
- nowhere - nowhere;
- never - never and so on.
This is what it looks like in sentences:
- After such an angry attack, there was nothing to say in response.
- Ostanin had no choice but to agree.
- There was no one to ask, so the old woman herself began to carry water from the well.
- No one was left in the large, bright room - everyone dispersed.
- There was nowhere for an apple to fall on a huge square during the rally against the increase in tariffs.
- Nowhere can you sleep so sweetly as at home - on your own bed.
- Olga had no time to play with the child - she was preparing for an important meeting.
- Never do what your conscience tells you to do.
Negative pronouns, examples of which are given above, as well as their other "comrades" can be spelled together,and may be separate. And although the rule is quite easy and understandable, many here manage to make gross mistakes. So, what negative pronouns should be written together with the particles “not” or “neither”, and which ones separately?
Together or separate?
The rule says: "Not" and "neither" will be prefixes and will be written together with the pronoun of a negative discharge if there is no preposition between them and the root of the word (question word). If there is a preposition, then “not” and “neither” will be particles and all three words should be written only separately.
For example:
- nothing - nothing;
- no one - about no one;
- no one - no one;
- no one - no one;
- none - none, etc.
Here are illustrations of these examples in the context of sentences:
- This conversation will not end well, it is better not to start it before going to bed.
- Ivan did not regret anything, he understood that everything was for the best.
- No one can replace parents gone to eternity!
- He left and burned all the bridges - he didn’t remember anyone!
- Don't ask anyone to do your job for you.
- No one had an extra notebook for the new girl, and she was upset.
- Viktor set off alone because there was absolutely no one to be.
- Anna got lost, and there was no one to ask for directions.
- No metropolitan restaurant attracted him more than that small, modest cafe in the city of his childhood.
- No teacher Vaska sat so still asPetrovich.
As you can see from the examples, only those pronouns that are declined according to cases can have separate spelling. Invariable words, such as "never", "nowhere", etc., cannot be used with prepositions, and nothing interferes with continuous spelling.
Special occasions
The Russian language is powerful, rich and sometimes insidious. Especially in relation to foreigners who can break their heads about the phrase “yes, no, probably …” and a few more similar ones, which simultaneously contain an affirmation and a denial, let’s rephrase: “yes, probably not.” For reference: Russian is the only language in the world where such contradictions are allowed.
The representatives of the "family" of pronouns also fall into such "intricacies". The phrase “as if nothing had happened” is one example of such situations. This phrase is pronounced easily, in one breath. And everyone understands its meaning. But even a native resident of Russia doesn’t, no, and even thinks: “How to write this ?!”. Where is the "e"? Where is the "and"? Merged or separate? All six words in this case are written separately, and you just need to remember it!
For example:
He returned and sat down in his seat as if nothing had happened
There are also difficulties with combinations of the words "no one but" and "no other". Why in the first case is the particle with the pronoun written separately and through “e”, and in the second - together and through “and”?
The “how” particle rules here. If it is present, we write “not” and separately, if not, then “neither” and together.
For example:
- Notwho else but you just now swore not to take cigarettes in your mouth anymore!
- No one else but Alena will cope with such a difficult task.
Or:
- A book is nothing more than a source of knowledge.
- The child is not fond of anything other than virtual games.
Negative pronouns are one of the essential rules of the Russian language. They should not be neglected. If there is the slightest doubt about the rules for writing them, then it is better to look into the reference book and check yourself. In any case, we recommend that you get a good manual in order to write negative pronouns correctly. And in general, do not lose face in front of foreigners if they suddenly ask you questions regarding spelling and understanding of Russian speech.
