Questions & Answers about Тишина ничему не мешает.
Why is "anything" translated as ничему instead of the basic form ничто?
The verb мешать (to interfere, to bother) requires its object to be in the Dative case. Ничему is the Dative form of the negative pronoun ничто (nothing).
The English translation says "with anything." Why does the Russian sentence use the negative word ничему (nothing)?
Russian requires double negation. Whenever you use a negative pronoun like ничто or its Dative form ничему, you must also put the negative particle не in front of the verb. Literally, the sentence says "Silence to nothing does not interfere."
Why isn't there a word for "with" in the Russian sentence?
English uses the preposition "with" after "interfere," but the Russian verb мешать links directly to its object using the Dative case. The relationship is already built into the Dative form ничему, so no extra preposition is needed.
I've seen the verb мешать used to mean "to stir." How do I know it means "to interfere" here?
Context and grammar give it away! When мешать means "to interfere" or "to bother," it is followed by an object in the Dative case (like ничему). When it means "to stir" (like stirring a cup of tea), the object being stirred takes the Accusative case.