Learn Hardcore Russian: Я ничего никому не обещаю.

This pattern with ни‑words (ничего, никому, никто, никогда, нигде) together with не is normal and correct in Russian. You must use не with these words in sentences like this:

Я никого не знаю. – I don’t know anyone.
Мы никогда туда не ходим. – We never go there.

If you remove some of the negatives, you will either sound wrong or you’ll change the meaning. Russian does not turn into a positive the way English does with “I don’t know nobody.”

What cases are ничего and никому in, and why those forms?

Grammatically:

ничего is genitive singular of ничто (nothing).
никому is dative singular of никто (no one, nobody).

The verb обещать (to promise) usually takes:

кому? (to whom?) → dative
что? (what?) → normally accusative, but under negation you often see genitive (“genitive of negation”).

So in this sentence:

никому (to nobody) is the indirect object in dative.
ничего (nothing) is the direct object in genitive, because of the negation не.

Compare:

Я обещаю другу помощь. – I promise (to) a friend help.
- другу – dative (кому?)
- помощь – accusative (что?)
Я ничего никому не обещаю. – I don’t promise anything to anyone.
- никому – dative (to whom?)
- ничего – genitive under negation.

Why is it ничего, not ничто?

Ничто is the nominative/accusative form (“nothing” as a subject or straightforward object).

But in negative sentences like this, Russian frequently uses the genitive form (called the genitive of negation) instead of accusative:

Я не читаю книг. – literally: I do not read of books → “I don’t read (any) books.”
Я ничего не вижу. – I don’t see anything. (Genitive ничего, not accusative ничто.)

So:

Я не обещаю ничто. – grammatically feels wrong / unnatural.
Я ничего не обещаю. – correct and idiomatic.

In practice, you almost always use ничего (genitive) in this kind of structure.

Why is it никому, not никто or никого?

The verb обещать governs dative for the person:

обещать кому? – to promise to whom?

So you need the dative form of никто:

никто – nominative (who?)
никого – genitive/accusative (of whom? whom?)
никому – dative (to whom?) ✅
никем – instrumental (by whom?)

Because in English you say “to anyone / to no one,” Russian uses кому / никому:

Я обещаю другу. – I promise (to) a friend.
Я никому не обещаю. – I don’t promise (to) anyone / I promise to no one.

So никому is the only correct form here.

If there are ничего and никому, why do we still need не before обещаю?

The particle не is what negates the verb.
The ни‑words (ничего, никому, никто, никогда, нигде) join in with that negation; they don’t replace не.

Standard rule: ни‑pronouns and ни‑adverbs in a clause with a finite verb require another negation, usually не:

✅ Я никого не знаю. – I don’t know anyone.
✅ Он никогда не опаздывает. – He never is late.

If you say:

Я никого знаю. – This is wrong in standard Russian.

So:

не обещаю – “I do not promise” (basic negation)
ничего никому – “nothing to anyone” (reinforcing that negation)

All three are needed for natural Russian.

Could I say Я не обещаю ничего никому instead? Is the word order fixed?

The word order is flexible. All of these are grammatically correct and mean roughly the same:

Я ничего никому не обещаю.
Я никому ничего не обещаю.
Я не обещаю ничего никому.

The differences are mainly in emphasis and rhythm, not in core meaning.

Rough nuances (very subtle):

Я никому ничего не обещаю. – Slightly more neutral/common; often used as a firm general statement.
Я ничего никому не обещаю. – Can put a shade more focus on ничего (“I’m not promising anything to anyone”).
Я не обещаю ничего никому. – Grammatically fine, but sounds a bit more “bookish” or heavily stressed; the не обещаю is foregrounded.

As a learner, you can safely use either:

Я никому ничего не обещаю.
Я ничего никому не обещаю.

Both are very natural.

Can I drop я and just say Ничего никому не обещаю?

Yes, you can.

In Russian, the verb form обещаю already encodes 1st person singular (“I promise”), so the pronoun я is often optional when it’s clear from context:

(Я) ничего никому не обещаю.

Without я, the sentence can sound:

a bit more abrupt or colloquial,
sometimes a bit stronger or more defensive in tone.

Context will usually make it clear who “I” is. Including я is fine and slightly more explicit/neutral.

Does обещаю here mean “I am not promising right now” or “I (generally) don’t make any promises”?

The Russian present tense imperfective can mean both:

Right now / in this situation
- “At this moment, I am not promising anything to anyone.”
Habitual / general
- “As a rule, I don’t promise anything to anyone.”

Which one it is depends entirely on context and intonation.

Compare:

Сейчас я ничего никому не обещаю. – Right now I’m not promising anything to anyone.
Я вообще ничего никому не обещаю. – In general I don’t promise anything to anyone.

Why is it обещаю and not пообещаю or some other verb form?

Обещать is imperfective, пообещать is perfective.

обещаю – I promise / I am promising (process, general action).
пообещаю – I will promise (a single, completed act).

In a negative, general statement like:

Я ничего никому не обещаю.

you normally use the imperfective present to express a general refusal or attitude. If you said:

Я ничего никому не пообещаю.

it would sound like a promise about a future single event (“I won’t (ever) end up promising anything to anyone”), and it’s unusual without additional context.

So обещаю is the natural choice here.

What’s the difference between ничего / никому and что‑нибудь / кому‑нибудь?

These pairs differ mainly in polarity and tone:

ничего, никому → strongly negative:
- ничего не обещаю – I promise nothing.
- никому не обещаю – I promise it to no one.
что‑нибудь, кому‑нибудь → indefinite / “any” type:
- Обещаешь что‑нибудь? – Will you promise anything / something?
- Ты обещаешь кому‑нибудь? – Are you promising it to anyone?

If you used что‑нибудь / кому‑нибудь with не, you’d flip the sense:

Я не обещаю ничего никому. – I don’t promise anything to anyone. (strong negation)
Я не обещаю что‑нибудь кому‑нибудь. – sounds unnatural; you’d more likely rephrase.

For clear “nothing to no one”, you want ничего никому with не.

How do you pronounce ничего никому не обещаю? Where is the stress?

Stresses (stressed syllables in CAPS):

ничегО – ni‑che‑GO
никомУ – ni‑ko‑MU
не – unstressed
обещАю – o‑be‑shA‑yu

Full sentence (slashes show word boundaries):

Я / ничегО / никомУ / не / обещАю.

In fast, casual speech you might hear:

ничего as ничеВО or even ничО (slurred),
consonants softening and blending: обещаю → [abʲɪˈʂajʊ].

For clear learner pronunciation, stick to the careful version:

ya nicheGO nikoMU ne obeshAyu.

Is Я ничего никому не обещаю rude, or is it neutral?

By itself, the sentence is neutral in form, but the meaning is quite firm:

It sounds like a clear refusal or defensive clarification:
“I’m not committing to anything for anyone.”

Tone depends on context and voice:

Said calmly, it’s just a clear statement of boundaries.
Said sharply, it can sound cold or final.

Softer alternatives:

Я пока ничего никому не обещаю. – For now I’m not promising anything to anyone.
Я не могу сейчас ничего обещать. – I can’t promise anything right now.
Я не хочу ничего обещать заранее. – I don’t want to promise anything in advance.

So grammatically neutral, but semantically quite strong.

Is there any difference between Я ничего никому не обещаю and Я никому ничего не обещаю?

Both are common and natural. The core meaning is the same: “I don’t promise anything to anyone.”

Subtle nuance:

Я никому ничего не обещаю.
- Slightly more typical “fixed phrase” feel.
- The focus can feel a bit more on никому (“to nobody”).
Я ничего никому не обещаю.
- Emphasis can feel a hair more on ничего (“nothing at all”).

In real conversation, the difference is very small. Learners can treat them as fully interchangeable.