Breakdown of Туристам было некого спросить, хотя они были в центре города.
они
they
город
city
в
in / to (direction)
центр
center
турист
tourist
быть
to be
спросить
to ask (perfective)
хотя
although
некого
no one
Questions & Answers about Туристам было некого спросить, хотя они были в центре города.
Why is Туристам in the dative case here instead of the nominative?
In Russian, constructions using некого (there is no one) or нечего (there is nothing) plus an infinitive are impersonal. The person experiencing this lack of options is the logical subject, which must be put in the dative case.
Why do we use некого here instead of никого?
We use никого in standard negative sentences alongside a negative verb (like Они никого не спросили - They didn't ask anyone). We use некого when there is no one available to perform an action with. It always takes the stress on the first syllable and is followed by an infinitive without an extra не.
Why is the verb было in the neuter form?
Because the first clause is an impersonal construction, there is no grammatical subject (a noun in the nominative case) for the verb to agree with. When a sentence has no nominative subject, past tense verbs default to the neuter singular form, which is было.
Which case is некого in, and why?
It is in the accusative case. The infinitive спросить (to ask) requires a direct object in the accusative. Because it refers to people (animate), the accusative form looks identical to the genitive form, resulting in некого.
Why does the second part of the sentence say города instead of город?
города is in the genitive case, which is often used to show possession or a relationship, translating to the English word 'of'. Therefore, в центре города literally translates to 'in the center of the city'.
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