Questions & Answers about Никто не ошибается.
Why do we need не here? Doesn't Никто already mean "nobody"?
In Russian, double negation is completely normal and required! When you use a negative word like никто (nobody), ничего (nothing), or никогда (never), you must also put не before the verb. A literal translation would be "Nobody does not make a mistake."
Is Никто treated as a singular or plural word?
It is treated as a singular subject, exactly like "he" (он) or "she" (она). That is why the verb ошибается uses the "he/she" ending -ет (which you can see just before the -ся at the very end).
Why does ошибается end in -ся?
The dictionary form of this verb is ошибаться (to make a mistake). The -ся at the end means it is a reflexive verb. While it doesn't strictly mean doing something "to yourself" in this case, many Russian verbs just naturally require this ending. When conjugating, you add the normal ending (like -ет here) and then tack -ся back onto the very end.
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