Questions & Answers about Я читаю и никому не мешаю.
Why does this sentence use никому instead of никто or никого?
The verb мешать (to disturb, to bother) requires its object to be in the Dative case. Think of it as meaning "to be a hindrance TO someone." Никому is the Dative form of никто (no one).
Why are both никому and не used here?
Russian uses mandatory double negation. Whenever you use a negative pronoun like никто or its other case forms, you must also put не (not) in front of the verb.
Is it okay to change the word order and say Я читаю и не мешаю никому?
Yes, that is grammatically correct. However, putting the negative pronoun right before the не + verb (like никому не мешаю) is the standard, most natural word order in Russian.
Why don't we need to repeat я (I) before мешаю?
Just like in English, if the same subject is doing both actions connected by и (and), you don't need to repeat it. The -ю ending on мешаю also makes it completely clear that "I" am the one doing the action.
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