Я ни разу не была в этом новом кафе, хотя живу рядом.

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Breakdown of Я ни разу не была в этом новом кафе, хотя живу рядом.

• в: to
• быть: to be
• новый: new

Questions & Answers about Я ни разу не была в этом новом кафе, хотя живу рядом.

Why is it не была and not just a present-tense form?

Russian often uses the past tense of быть to express have been in the sense of visiting a place.

So:

• Я не была в кафе = I haven’t been to the café / I was not at the café
• literally, it looks like I was not in the café

In this sentence, ни разу не была means have never been even once.

Russian does not usually say a direct equivalent of English I have never been with a separate present perfect form, because Russian has no present perfect tense like English does.

Why is it была specifically?

Была is the feminine singular past tense form of быть.

Past tense in Russian agrees with the speaker’s gender:

• Я был = I was / I have been (male speaker)
• Я была = I was / I have been (female speaker)

So this sentence tells you the speaker is female.

What does ни разу mean exactly?