Question 1

Why does the sentence use both никогда (never) and не (not)?

Accepted Answer

In Russian, double negation is a strict rule! When you use a negative word like никогда (never) or ничего (nothing), you must also put не right before the verb. Literally, it translates to "My brother never did not work," but it just means "never worked" in English.

Question 2

Why do we use the preposition на instead of в for "at the factory"?

Accepted Answer

While в generally means "in" or "at" an enclosed building, Russian uses на with certain types of locations, especially open spaces, events, and some specific workplaces. Завод (factory), почта (post office), and вокзал (train station) are common exceptions that always take на when talking about location.

Question 3

Why does завод end with an -е in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

Because we are talking about location (where the action happened). This requires the Prepositional case. For most masculine nouns ending in a hard consonant like завод, you form the Prepositional case by adding an -е to the end, making it заводе.

Question 4

If the sentence was about a sister instead of a brother, how would it change?

Accepted Answer

You would say Моя сестра никогда не работала на заводе. In the past tense, Russian verbs must match the gender of the subject. Since брат is masculine, we use работал. For a feminine subject like сестра, you add an -а to the verb to make it работала.

Мой брат никогда не работал на заводе.

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