Learn Hardcore Russian: Что бы ни случилось сегодня на работе, вечером я всё равно немного поучусь русскому. - No matter what happens at work today, in the evening I will still study Russian a bit.

что – “what”
бы – the particle used to form a subjunctive / hypothetical mood
ни – a strengthening particle used in “no matter what / who / where” type phrases

Do not confuse «что бы» with «чтобы» (one word):

что бы ни случилось – whatever happens (no matter what will happen)
чтобы случилось – so that it happens / in order for it to happen (completely different meaning)

So here «что бы ни…» introduces a concessive clause: Regardless of what happens…

Why is «случилось» in the past tense if the sentence is talking about today (including the future part of the day)?

In Russian, when you combine:

бы
- past tense verb

you often get a subjunctive / hypothetical meaning, not a real past.

So:

случилось by itself = “(something) happened” (real past)
что бы ни случилось = “whatever happens / might happen” (hypothetical)

Even though случилось is formally past tense, with бы it stops being “real past” and becomes a subjunctive form, similar to English “would happen / might happen” or the unreal “happened” in “If something happened, I’d call you”.

The time reference comes from сегодня на работе (“today at work”), so the whole clause means:

«Что бы ни случилось сегодня на работе»
→ No matter what may happen at work today.

What is the role of «ни» in «что бы ни случилось»? Is it a negation?

Here «ни» is not simple negation like не. It’s part of a “no matter …” type construction.

Common patterns:

кто бы ни… – whoever …
что бы ни… – whatever …
где бы ни… – wherever …
когда бы ни… – whenever …

The particle ни:

emphasizes “no matter which/what”,
often appears together with бы and an interrogative word (кто, что, где, когда…)

It does not require you to add не to the verb here. «Что бы ни случилось» is already a complete concessive phrase: whatever happens.

Why is the verb «поучусь» used here instead of «буду учить» or «буду учиться»?

Поучусь is:

1st person singular, future, reflexive
from поучиться = “to study for a while / to do some learning”

Meaning nuance:

поучусь – I’ll study a bit / I’ll do some learning (for a short time)
– has a delimitative meaning: a limited amount of time or effort
буду учить русский – “I will (be) learn(ing)/study(ing) Russian”
– neutral, can imply more systematic learning
буду учиться русскому – “I will be studying Russian”
– also neutral, process-focused

In this sentence:

…вечером я всё равно немного поучусь русскому.

The speaker is emphasizing “I’ll at least study a bit”, not “I’ll do a full serious study session”. That softer, “for a bit” feeling comes very naturally with поучусь.

What nuance does the prefix «по-» add in «поучусь»?

The prefix по- on verbs of action often gives a delimitative meaning: to do something for a while / a little bit.

Compare:

учиться – to study (in general), to be engaged in learning
поучиться – to study for a while, to do some studying

Other examples:

читать – to read
почитать – to read for a bit
работать – to work
поработать – to work for some time

So «немного поучусь русскому» is almost like saying:

“I’ll study some Russian for a bit”
“I’ll do a little bit of Russian study”

Why is it «поучусь русскому» (dative) and not «поучусь русский» (accusative)?

This comes from a key pattern in Russian:

учиться / поучиться + dative – to study/learn a subject
учить / выучить + accusative – to learn/teach a thing (words, rules, poem)

So:

учиться русскому – to study (the) Russian (language)
учить русский – to learn Russian (often more “learn by heart / master it”)

Similarly:

учиться математике (dative) – to study mathematics
учить формулы (accusative) – to learn formulas

In your sentence:

…поучусь русскому.

uses поучиться → must take dative: русскому.
*поучусь русский is ungrammatical with this verb.

What is the difference between «учить русский» and «учиться русскому»?

Both can be translated as “to learn/study Russian”, but there is a nuance and a grammatical difference:

учить + accusative (что?)
- учить русский – to learn Russian (as a language), but also:
- учить слова – to learn/memorize words
- учить стихотворение – to learn a poem by heart
  This can sound more like active learning / memorizing specific material.
учиться + dative (чему?)
- учиться русскому – to study Russian (as a subject at school, at home, etc.)
- учиться математике – to study mathematics
- учиться водить машину – to learn how to drive (lit. “to learn driving a car”)

In your sentence, поучиться русскому emphasizes engaging in the process of studying the subject (Russian) for a bit, which fits the context well.

What does «всё равно» mean, and where can it appear in the sentence?

«Всё равно» means:

“anyway”, “regardless”, “in any case”, “no matter what”

In the sentence:

…вечером я всё равно немного поучусь русскому.

it shows that the evening study plan will not change, regardless of what happens at work.

Word order is fairly flexible; you could say:

Вечером я всё равно немного поучусь русскому. (neutral)
Вечером я немного поучусь русскому всё равно. (less common, slightly afterthought-like)
Я всё равно вечером немного поучусь русскому.

But the most natural spot here is exactly where it is: after the subject “я”.

Why is «вечером» used, and what form is it? Could I say «сегодня вечером» instead?

«Вечером» is the instrumental form of вечер used adverbially to mean “in the evening”.

утром – in the morning
днём – in the daytime
вечером – in the evening
ночью – at night

You can say:

Сегодня вечером я всё равно немного поучусь русскому.
– “This evening I’ll still study some Russian.”

The original:

…вечером я всё равно…

is slightly more general (“in the evening”) but with «сегодня на работе» before it, the listener naturally understands it as this evening (the same day you’re talking about). Adding сегодня вечером just makes it more explicit.

How flexible is the word order in «Что бы ни случилось сегодня на работе»? Can I move «сегодня» or «на работе»?

Word order in Russian is more flexible than in English, but not completely free. These variants are all acceptable:

Что бы ни случилось сегодня на работе… (original)
Что бы ни случилось на работе сегодня…
Сегодня на работе что бы ни случилось… (more marked, fronting “today at work”)

The most neutral is the original: time (сегодня) before place (на работе) inside the clause.
Just don’t break the core phrase «что бы ни случилось»; those three words should stay together.

Why is there a comma in «Что бы ни случилось сегодня на работе, вечером я…»?

The sentence consists of two clauses:

Что бы ни случилось сегодня на работе – subordinate concessive clause
(No matter what happens at work today…)
вечером я всё равно немного поучусь русскому – main clause

In Russian, a subordinate clause is usually separated from the main clause with a comma.
Here, «что бы ни» clearly introduces the subordinate clause, so we write:

Что бы ни случилось сегодня на работе,
вечером я всё равно немного поучусь русскому.

Could we say «Что ни случится сегодня на работе…» instead of «Что бы ни случилось…»? What’s the difference?

Both are possible but not identical.

Что бы ни случилось сегодня на работе…
– very common, sounds natural
– concessive + subjunctive: “no matter what may happen today at work”
Что ни случится сегодня на работе…
– focuses more directly on the future (случится = future)
– is understood, but this exact wording is less idiomatic in everyday speech

In practice, for this “no matter what happens (today)” meaning, Russians overwhelmingly prefer:

Что бы ни случилось (сегодня / завтра / дальше / потом)…

So your original version is the natural choice.

Could we drop «бы» and just say «Что ни случилось сегодня на работе…»?

Without бы, the phrase changes its feel:

Что бы ни случилось… – standard concessive, hypothetical: whatever happens / may happen
Что ни случилось… – sounds more like “whatever (it was that) happened…”, tends to refer more to real past events and is less standard as a concessive phrase on its own.

So for the meaning:

No matter what happens at work today…

you really need бы:

✅ Что бы ни случилось сегодня на работе… (correct and idiomatic)
⚠️ Что ни случилось сегодня на работе… – odd / likely interpreted differently

Why is the verb «поучусь» reflexive (ending in -сь/-ся) here? What does the reflexive add?

Поучусь is from поучиться, which is inherently reflexive (-ся / -сь). With verbs of learning:

учить (что?) – to learn / to teach something
- учить слова – to learn words
- учить детей – to teach children
учиться (чему?) – to study / learn a subject or skill
- учиться русскому – to study Russian
- учиться играть на гитаре – to learn to play guitar

The reflexive -ся often suggests:

the action is directed toward oneself or
it’s about being in the process of doing something (like “to be learning” vs “to teach/learn a specific item”).

So:

я поучусь русскому – I’ll study Russian (for my own knowledge) for a bit.
я поучу русского – would mean “I’ll teach (some) Russian (to someone)” – different meaning.

The reflexive is crucial here to express studying for oneself, not teaching someone else.