Negative Structures in Russian

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Negations in Russian

There is a Russian proverb that says "Хорошего понемножку" which can be translated to English as "It is too much of a good thing". Even a good thing can become boring and one will have to say "no" to it.

Before it's too late, let's learn how to form negative constructions in the Russian language.

Related Resources

• Negative pronouns
• Sentence structure

Russian negative sentences are formed with the help of the word не (not). You should put не between the noun and the verb connected with this noun. For example,

Я знаю - I know
Я не знаю - I don't know

For more sophisticated ways to say "no", consider the following examples.

никогда не - never
Он никогда не ест яблоки - He never eats apples.
Я никогда его не видел - I never saw him.

больше не - not... any longer
Он больше не ходит в кино - He does not go to the movies any longer.

ничего не - not... anything
Он ничего не взял - He didn't take anything.
Я ничего не хочу, кроме этого - I want nothing besides this.

ещё не - not yet
Тайна ещё не раскрыта - The mystery hasn't been cleared up yet.
Ребёнок еще не умеет читать - The child can't read yet.

совсем не - not at all
Это мне совсем не по душе - I don't cotton to it at all.
Он совсем не курит - He doesn't smoke at all.

почти не - hardly, barely
Я почти не слышал о нём - I have barely heard of him.
Мы почти не прикоснулись к завтраку - We barely tasted the breakfast.