Breakdown of На диком острове я ни на кого не полагаюсь, чтобы выжить.
не
not
я
I
на
on, at / by (transport) / to (a place) / to (in answer to)
никто
nobody
остров
island
чтобы
in order to
дикий
wild
выжить
to survive
полагаться
to rely
Questions & Answers about На диком острове я ни на кого не полагаюсь, чтобы выжить.
Why is the preposition 'на' stuck in the middle of 'ни на кого'?
This is the rule for negative pronouns! When a negative pronoun like никто (nobody) is used with a preposition, the preposition splits the word in two. Instead of saying на никого, you put the preposition in the middle: ни + на + кого.
Why is the pronoun in the form 'кого' here?
The verb полагаться (to rely) is always followed by the preposition на plus the accusative case. The accusative form of никто is никого. Since it is split by the preposition, it becomes ни на кого.
If 'ни на кого' already means 'on no one', why is there a 'не' before the verb?
Russian uses double negatives. Whenever you use a negative word like никто (or its split form), you must also make the verb negative by adding не. Literally, the structure translates to 'I do not rely on no one'.
Why does the verb 'полагаюсь' end in '-юсь' instead of '-ю'?
The dictionary form is полагаться, which is a reflexive verb (it has the -ся ending). When you conjugate it for я (I), the base verb ends in the vowel -ю (полагаю). After a vowel, the reflexive ending shortens from -ся to -сь, giving you полагаюсь.
How does 'чтобы' work in this sentence?
When you want to say 'in order to' do something, you use чтобы followed by an infinitive verb. Here, чтобы выжить simply means 'in order to survive'.
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