Questions & Answers about Я нигде не могу найти свой кошелёк.
Why does Russian use what looks like a double negative here: нигде не?
Russian has negative concord: negative words with ни- (никто, ничего, нигде, никогда, никак, etc.) must be accompanied by a negated verb (usually with не, or the negative verb нет). They don’t cancel each other; they reinforce the negation. So нигде не могу is the normal way to say “can’t … anywhere.” Compare: Нигде его нет (“He is nowhere”), Я никого не вижу (“I don’t see anyone”).
Can I use никуда instead of нигде?
No. Нигде answers “where?” (location: nowhere). Никуда answers “to where?” (direction: to nowhere) and is used with motion verbs: Я никуда не иду (“I’m not going anywhere”). With найти (“to find”), you want location, so нигде is correct.
Why is найти used instead of искать or находить?
- Найти is perfective: “to find (achieve the result).” Не могу найти = “I can’t manage to find.”
- Искать is “to look for, to search.” Я ищу кошелёк = “I’m looking for my wallet.”
- Находить is the imperfective partner of найти and would describe a repeated/habitual result (“to find (habitually)”). Не могу находить would mean “I’m unable to find (as a rule),” which is not what you want here.
Why use свой instead of мой?
Свой is the default possessive when the possessor is the subject of the clause; it means “one’s own” and removes ambiguity. Я не могу найти свой кошелёк means it’s my own wallet. Мой is possible but often used only for emphasis or contrast: Я не могу найти мой кошелёк, а твой я нашёл (“I can’t find my wallet, but I found yours”).