Breakdown of Никто не может заставить меня это сделать.
это
this / it is
не
not
меня
me
сделать
to do (perfective) / to make (perfective)
мочь
to be able to
никто
nobody
заставить
to force, to make someone do
Questions & Answers about Никто не может заставить меня это сделать.
Why is there a не before может? Doesn't Никто already mean 'nobody'?
Yes, Никто means 'nobody,' but Russian requires a double negative. Whenever you use a negative word like никто (nobody) or никогда (never), you must also put не before the verb. You are literally saying 'Nobody cannot make me.'
Why use заставить for 'make' instead of a form of делать?
In English, 'make' can mean both 'create' and 'force.' In Russian, these concepts use entirely different verbs. You use делать or сделать for 'to do' or 'to create.' When you mean 'to make someone do something' (to force them), you must use заставить.
Why is the perfective verb сделать used here instead of the imperfective делать?
We use the perfective сделать because the speaker is talking about being forced to complete one specific action. If the meaning was 'Nobody can force me to do this on a regular basis,' you would use the imperfective делать.
Why is меня placed right after заставить rather than at the end of the sentence?
While Russian word order is flexible, меня (me) is the direct object of заставить (to force). It is most natural to place the person being forced immediately after the verb doing the forcing, before introducing the action they are supposed to do (это сделать).
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