Breakdown of Я убираю пыльный архив, который никто не любит.
не
not
я
I
любить
to love, to like
никто
nobody
убирать
to clean
который
which / who / that (relative pronoun)
архив
archive
пыльный
dusty
Questions & Answers about Я убираю пыльный архив, который никто не любит.
Why is который used here instead of которого if it is in the Accusative case?
Который is the direct object of the verb любит (likes), so it must be in the Accusative case. Because it refers back to архив, which is a masculine inanimate noun, its Accusative form is exactly the same as its Nominative form: который. If it referred to a living thing (animate), it would be которого.
Why don't the words пыльный архив change their endings if they are the direct object?
They actually are in the Accusative case because they are the direct object of убираю (I am cleaning). However, for masculine inanimate nouns like архив and their adjectives, the Accusative forms look exactly like the dictionary (Nominative) forms.
Why is there a не before любит when the sentence already says никто (nobody)?
Russian uses double negatives! Whenever you use a negative pronoun like никто (nobody) or ничего (nothing), you must also put не before the verb. A Russian literally says 'nobody does not like.'
Could I use the verb уберу instead of убираю here?
Not in this sentence. Уберу is the perfective form, which is used for the future tense (I will clean). Because the action is happening right now (I am cleaning), you must use the imperfective present tense verb убираю.
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