Breakdown of Она грустит. Ей сегодня нечего обсудить.
она
she / it (for a feminine noun)
сегодня
today
ей
to her
нечего
nothing (there is nothing to...)
грустить
to be sad
обсудить
to discuss (perfective)
Questions & Answers about Она грустит. Ей сегодня нечего обсудить.
Why is the second sentence using the Dative case Ей instead of Она?
This is the core structure for the 'have nothing to...' phrasing. In Russian, when you want to say 'someone has nothing to do', the person isn't the grammatical subject. Instead, the person goes into the Dative case (Ей = to her), followed by нечего (there is nothing) and the infinitive of the verb (обсудить).
How is нечего different from ничего?
Ничего means 'nothing' and is used in regular double-negative sentences (like Она ничего не обсуждает - She isn't discussing anything). Нечего is a special predicative word meaning 'there is nothing to...'. It is used with an infinitive, does not take a double negative (no extra не before the verb), and the stress is heavily on the first syllable: не́чего.
Why use the perfective verb обсудить here rather than the imperfective обсуждать?
Using the perfective обсудить means she has no specific topic or news to cover today. If we used the imperfective (Ей нечего обсуждать), it would mean there is 'nothing to talk about in general', but it can also carry the idiomatic meaning 'there is no point in discussing it'.
Why use the verb грустит instead of saying she is sad using an adjective?
While you could say Она грустная (She is sad), using an adjective often implies a permanent characteristic or her overall appearance ('She is a sad-looking person'). To describe the temporary feeling of sadness in the moment, Russian frequently uses the verb грустить (to feel sad).
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