Breakdown of Моё оружие слабее, поэтому я ни с кем не спорю.
не
not
я
I
мой
my (мой, моя, моё) / mine
спорить
to argue
поэтому
so (therefore)
никто
nobody
с
with (also со)
слабый
weak
оружие
weapon
Questions & Answers about Моё оружие слабее, поэтому я ни с кем не спорю.
Why is 'with no one' translated as three words: ни с кем?
When a negative pronoun like никто (no one) is used with a preposition like с (with), the preposition jumps right into the middle of the word! It splits into three parts: ни + the preposition + the pronoun in the correct case. Since 'with who' is с кем, 'with no one' becomes ни с кем.
Why is there a не before спорю if we already said ни с кем (no one)?
Russian uses mandatory double negation. If you have a negative word starting with ни- (like никто or its split forms), you must also put a не in front of the verb. Literally, the sentence says 'I with no one do not argue.'
Why is the instrumental case (кем) used in the split pronoun?
Because of the verb! The verb спорить (to argue) requires the preposition с (with) followed by the instrumental case. The instrumental form of кто (who) is кем, so we use it to build ни с кем.
How does слабее mean 'weaker'?
To say that something is 'more' or '-er' (the comparative form), Russian often drops the regular adjective ending and adds -ее. The dictionary form is слабый (weak). Drop the -ый and add -ее to get слабее (weaker).
Why is the pronoun моё used for 'my'?
The possessive pronoun must match the gender of the noun it belongs to. Оружие (weapon) ends in -е, making it a neuter noun. Therefore, we use the neuter form моё instead of the masculine мой or feminine моя.
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