Breakdown of Нам не предотвратить это проклятие, и ни у кого нет такого заклинания.
и
and
не
not
мы
we
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
у
at, by
нет
there is no / is not present
никто
nobody
такой
such / so / what ... is
проклятие
curse
предотвратить
to prevent
заклинание
spell
Questions & Answers about Нам не предотвратить это проклятие, и ни у кого нет такого заклинания.
Why is it нам не предотвратить instead of мы не можем предотвратить?
Both translate to "we cannot prevent", but the dative plus infinitive construction (нам + infinitive) expresses a stronger sense of absolute impossibility or fate. It sounds more dramatic and definitive, implying that circumstances make it completely out of our hands, rather than just lacking the physical ability (не можем).
Could we use the imperfective verb предотвращать here instead of the perfective предотвратить?
No, because verb aspect completely changes the meaning in negative independent infinitive clauses. Using the perfective (не предотвратить) means it is impossible to do. If you used the imperfective (не предотвращать), it would mean we should not do it or there is no need to do it.
Why is it written as ни у кого instead of у никого?
When a negative pronoun like никто (nobody) is used with a preposition like у (at/by), the preposition must go directly in the middle. This splits the word into three separate parts: ни у кого.
Why is такого заклинания in the genitive case?
It is required by the word нет (there is not / no one has). In Russian, the thing that is absent or does not exist must always take the genitive case. Here, the nominative такое заклинание becomes the genitive такого заклинания.
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