Если никого нет дома, я никуда не звоню.

If nobody is at home, I don’t call anywhere.

Breakdown of Если никого нет дома, я никуда не звоню.

• я: I
• быть: to be
• дома: at home
• не: not
• если: if
• звонить: to call
• никто: nobody
• никуда: nowhere

Questions & Answers about Если никого нет дома, я никуда не звоню.

Why is it никого, not никто?

Because after нет Russian uses the genitive case. Никого is the genitive of никто. Typical patterns:

• Никого нет дома (nobody is at home).
• With a regular verb you’d use nominative никто and add не to the verb: Никто дома не отвечает.

What is нет here—how is it different from не?

Нет is an existential negative meaning there is no/there isn’t and it governs the genitive (hence никого). Не is a particle that negates verbs/adjectives (e.g., не звоню). You can’t replace нет with не in никого нет дома.

Why is there “double negation” in я никуда не звоню?

Russian has negative concord: negative words with ни- (e.g., никто, ничего, нигде, никуда, никогда) require не on the verb. So я никуда не звоню is correct; я никуда звоню is ungrammatical.

Can I say никому instead of никуда?

Yes, but the focus shifts:

• Я никому не звоню = I don’t call anyone (no person).
• Я никуда не звоню = I don’t call anywhere (no place/number). Given никого нет дома, many speakers would choose никому because we’re talking about people. Никуда is fine if you mean places or numbers.

Should it be нигде or никуда?

• Нигде = nowhere (location, где?).
• Никуда = to nowhere (direction, куда?). With звонить you can ask куда? (e.g., домой, в офис, на работу), so никуда fits here.

Why дома and not в доме?

Дома is an adverb meaning at home and is the idiomatic way to talk about presence/absence: его нет дома. В доме = in the house (inside the building), which emphasizes the interior rather than the idea of being at home.

Do I need то after если? And is the comma required?

• То is optional: Если никого нет дома, (то) я никуда не звоню.
• The comma between the if-clause and the main clause is required, in either order.

Can I change the word order inside the if-clause?

Yes. All of these are natural, with slight emphasis differences:

• Если никого нет дома (neutral).
• Если дома никого нет (emphasis on the location).
• Если никого дома нет (emphasis on nobody being at home).

Why звоню (imperfective present) and not позвоню?

It states a general rule/habit, so imperfective present звоню is right. For a single future event, use future forms:

• Если никого не будет дома, я никуда не позвоню.
• Если никого не будет дома, я никуда звонить не буду.

What case does звонить take? Why not accusative?

Звонить doesn’t take a direct object; with a person it takes dative: звоню маме, звоню другу. With destinations you can use куда: звоню домой, в офис, на работу, or an adverb like туда/никуда.

Is я не звоню никуда also correct?

Yes. Both я никуда не звоню and я не звоню никуда are grammatical. Fronting the negative word (никуда) is more typical; keeping it after the verb can add contrastive emphasis in context.

How are these words stressed?

• никогО (last syllable)
• нЕт
• дОма (adverb at home; contrast with plural домА = houses)
• звонЮ
• никудА

What about нету instead of нет?

Нету is colloquial. Никого нет дома is standard; никого нету дома is common in speech but avoided in formal writing.

Could I say никогда here?

Different meaning. Никогда не звоню = I never call (at any time). Your sentence is conditional (only if nobody is home). You could combine them for emphasis: Если никого нет дома, я никогда не звоню.

Can I drop я?

Yes, especially in informal speech: Если никого нет дома, никуда не звоню. The verb ending shows the subject. Keeping я is neutral and clear.

Could I refer back with туда or use домой?

Yes:

• Если никого нет дома, я туда не звоню. (there, i.e., to that place)
• Если никого нет дома, я домой не звоню. Both are idiomatic; context determines which sounds more natural.