Russian Negation — Making Negative Sentences

Negation in Russian is straightforward: place не directly before the verb, adjective, or noun you want to negate (Я не зна́ю — "I don't know"; Это не моя́ кни́га — "This isn't my book"). With the verb "to have", negation requires the genitive case: У меня́ нет вре́мени ("I have no time").

Russian uses double (and triple, and quadruple) negatives, which are grammatically required, not stylistic: Я никогда́ ничего́ никому́ не говорю́ ("I never tell anyone anything") — literally "I never nothing to-no-one not say". The negative particle не plus the negative pronoun/adverb is the standard structure.

RusDrills offers 300+ free interactive Russian grammar exercises with instant feedback, spaced repetition, and audio pronunciation.

Note: This site uses JavaScript for interactive drills, audio playback, and progress tracking. Please enable JavaScript for the full experience.