Breakdown of Она замечает, что его никто не удивляет.
не
not
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
она
she / it (for a feminine noun)
что
that (conjunction)
никто
nobody
удивлять
to surprise
замечать
to notice
Questions & Answers about Она замечает, что его никто не удивляет.
Why does его come before никто? Could this mean "he surprises no one"?
In Russian, word order is flexible, so we rely on cases to tell us who is doing what. его is the Accusative form (him), meaning he is the object receiving the action. никто is in the Nominative case, meaning it is the subject. Therefore, "nobody" is doing the surprising, and "him" is being surprised.
Why is there a не before the verb if we already used никто (no one)?
Russian strictly requires a double negative. Whenever you use a negative pronoun like никто (nobody) or ничто (nothing), you must also make the verb itself negative by adding не.
Why is it никто and not никого in this sentence?
We use the Nominative form никто because "nobody" is the subject performing the action. If the sentence was "he surprises no one", then "no one" would be the object receiving the action, and you would need the Accusative form никого.
What is the base form (infinitive) of the verb удивляет?
The infinitive is удивлять (to surprise). It is a regular first-conjugation verb, which is why it drops the -ть and takes the standard -ет ending here to match the singular subject никто.
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