Breakdown of Как мы ни дрессируем этого питомца, это бесполезно.
это
this / it is
мы
we
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
как
how
Questions & Answers about Как мы ни дрессируем этого питомца, это бесполезно.
Why do we use ни here instead of не, and does it make the sentence negative?
The combination как ни is a set structure meaning 'no matter how'. Even though ни is usually a negative particle, in this concessive clause it doesn't negate the verb. You are actually training the pet! The phrase как ни дрессируем means 'no matter how much we train'. If you used не, it would mistakenly mean 'how we do not train'.
Could I use тренируем instead of дрессируем for training a pet?
Generally, no. The verb тренировать is used for sports, fitness, or people (like athletes). When talking about animals, Russian uses the specific verb дрессировать, which means to train an animal, teach it tricks, or tame it.
Why is the ending этого питомца used here instead of just этот питомец?
The verb дрессировать requires a direct object in the accusative case. Because питомец (pet) is a living creature, it is an animate masculine noun. For animate masculine nouns, the accusative case perfectly copies the genitive case, which gives us этого питомца.
Why is the subject мы placed between как and ни?