Breakdown of Это ничьи деньги, они просто лежали на улице.
это
this / it is
они
they
улица
street
на
on, at / by (transport) / to (a place) / to (in answer to)
деньги
money
просто
simply, just
лежать
to lie, be lying down
ничей
nobody's
Questions & Answers about Это ничьи деньги, они просто лежали на улице.
Why is the word for 'nobody's' here ничьи instead of the dictionary form ничей?
Ничей acts like an adjective, so it has to match the gender and number of the noun it describes. Because the Russian word for money, деньги, is always plural, you must use the plural form ничьи.
I thought Russian required a double negative with words like ничей. Why isn't there a не in the first clause?
You only need a double negative when there is an actual verb in the same clause as the negative pronoun. Since the first part (Это ничьи деньги) just uses the implied 'is' and has no active verb in Russian, we don't add не. If there were a verb, you would need it: Я не брал ничьи деньги (I didn't take nobody's money).
Why does the second half of the sentence say они просто лежали (they were just lying) instead of using 'it'?
Even though we treat 'money' as a singular 'it' in English, the Russian word деньги is grammatically plural. Therefore, it requires the plural pronoun они (they) and the plural past-tense verb form лежали.
Does на улице mean the money was literally in the road?
It can mean literally 'on the street,' but на улице is also the standard Russian idiom for 'outside' or 'outdoors.' Depending on the exact context, this person might just mean they found the money lying somewhere outside.
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