Breakdown of Мой питомец такой упрямый, что никогда не будет послушным.
не
not
мой
my (мой, моя, моё) / mine
быть
to be
что
that (conjunction)
никогда
never
такой
such / so / what ... is
питомец
the pet
упрямый
stubborn
послушный
obedient
Questions & Answers about Мой питомец такой упрямый, что никогда не будет послушным.
Since our current lesson is about как ни (no matter how), how could we express a similar idea using that structure?
This sentence uses a result clause: такой... что (so... that). To use a concessive clause with как ни, you would focus on a verb instead of the adjective. For example: Как его ни тренируй, мой питомец никогда не будет послушным (No matter how you train him, my pet will never be obedient).
Why is послушным in the instrumental case rather than the nominative послушный?
With the future tense of быть (here, будет), adjectives and nouns describing the subject are typically put in the instrumental case. This is standard Russian grammar for describing characteristics or states in the future (or past) tense, whereas the nominative is mainly reserved for present-tense innate qualities.
Could I use так упрямый instead of такой упрямый for 'so stubborn'?
No, you must use такой with adjectives. Такой modifies nouns and adjectives (like упрямый). You would use так to modify verbs or adverbs (e.g., Он так упрямо спорит - He argues so stubbornly).
Is the double negative in никогда не будет mandatory?
Yes, Russian requires negative concord (double negation). Whenever you use a negative word like никогда (never), you must also place не directly before the verb. Literally, you are saying 'never not will be'.
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