Emphatic Negation: "Not a Single..."
When you want to emphasize that "not a single" or "not one" thing did something, use the defining pronoun ни один.
Because Russian relies on double negation, you must also use не before the main verb in these sentences.
| not a single / not one | ни один |
Since один acts like an adjective, it must agree with the noun it modifies in gender and case. Let's look at how it behaves as the subject of a sentence in the Nominative case:
- Masculine: ни один
- Feminine: ни одна
- Neuter: ни одно
| There isn't a single poster hanging on the street. | Ни одна афиша не висит на улице. |
| Not a single spectator is sitting in the upper boxes. | В верхних ложах не сидит ни один зритель. |
| Not a single actor hid their disappointment. | Ни один актёр не скрывал своего разочарования. |
Expressing Absence in the Genitive Case
To say "there isn't a single [thing]" or "not a single [thing] is left," you will use words like нет or не осталось. As always with negation expressing absence, the noun and the pronoun ни один must both take the Genitive case:
- Masculine / Neuter: ни одного
- Feminine: ни одной
This strong negation is perfect for describing an empty venue or a completely sold-out theater performance (аншлаг) where every ticket has been bought up.
| full house / sold-out performance | аншлаг |
| This is a real full house, there isn't a single extra ticket. | Это настоящий аншлаг, нет ни одного лишнего билета. |
| This is a disappointment, the tickets are already sold out, there is not a single free seat! | Это разочарование, билеты уже раскупили, нет ни одного свободного места! |
| There isn't a single coat check tag left in this cloakroom. | В этом гардеробе не осталось ни одного номерка. |