Breakdown of Она смотрит на ту новую витрину, но ничего не покупает.
не
not
она
she / it (for a feminine noun)
новый
new
на
on, at / by (transport) / to (a place) / to (in answer to)
покупать
to buy
смотреть
to watch / to look at / make sure (in a warning)
но
but
ничего
nothing
тот
that
витрина
the shop window
Questions & Answers about Она смотрит на ту новую витрину, но ничего не покупает.
Why do we use ту новую витрину instead of та новая витрина?
This phrase is in the Accusative case because it is the target of the action (what she is looking at). For feminine singular words, the noun витрина changes to витрину, the adjective новая (new) takes the -ую ending to become новую, and the demonstrative pronoun та (that) changes to ту.
Why is the preposition на used after смотрит? Doesn't на usually mean "on"?
While на often means "on" (taking the Prepositional case for location), the verb смотреть (to look) pairs with на to mean "to look at". When it shows the direction of your gaze, на is always followed by the Accusative case.
Why are there two negative words (ничего and не) in the second part of the sentence?
Russian requires double negatives. When you use a negative pronoun like ничего (nothing/anything), you must also put не (not) in front of the verb. So, "isn't buying anything" literally translates as "nothing not buys".
I know ничего means "nothing" or "anything", but what dictionary word does it actually come from?
Ничего is the Genitive and Accusative form of the pronoun ничто (nothing). In negative sentences with direct objects, Russian strongly prefers this form. As a quick pronunciation refresher, remember that the -его ending is pronounced with a "v" sound, making the word sound like "nee-chee-VO".
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