Breakdown of Nigdy nie dotykam niczego w twojej szufladzie.
nie
no / not
twój
your
w
in / on (a day)
nigdy
never
nic
nothing
szuflada
drawer
dotykać
to touch
Questions & Answers about Nigdy nie dotykam niczego w twojej szufladzie.
Why is it niczego instead of just nic?
The verb dotykać (to touch) requires its object to be in the Genitive case. Niczego is the Genitive form of the negative pronoun nic (nothing).
The English translation says 'anything', but the Polish sentence uses niczego (nothing). Why?
Polish requires multiple negatives in a sentence. Where English says 'I never touch anything', Polish literally says 'Never not I-touch nothing' (Nigdy nie dotykam niczego). When you use negative words like nigdy, you must also use nie before the verb and negative pronouns like niczego.
Does the verb dotykać always use the Genitive case, or is that just because the sentence has nie in it?
The verb dotykać always takes the Genitive case, even in positive sentences. While it is true that adding nie usually changes a normal Accusative object into a Genitive one, verbs like dotykać or słuchać (to listen) inherently take the Genitive case all the time anyway.
Why did twoja szuflada (your drawer) change to twojej szufladzie?
Because it follows the preposition w (in) when talking about a static location, which requires the Locative case. The feminine word szuflada changes its ending to -ie (which also softens the d to dz), and the pronoun twoja changes to twojej.
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