Word
Как упрямый котёнок ни старается, он не может открыть дверь.
Meaning
No matter how the stubborn kitten tries, he cannot open the door.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Как упрямый котёнок ни старается, он не может открыть дверь.
не
not
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
дверь
door
как
how
Questions & Answers about Как упрямый котёнок ни старается, он не может открыть дверь.
Why is there a ни here instead of не, and why doesn't it make the sentence negative?
In Russian, the construction как + [subject] + ни + [verb] translates to "no matter how [subject] [verbs]". The particle ни here acts as an intensifier for the concession ("no matter how much"), not as a negative marker. That is why the kitten actually is trying, even though ни is used.
Why is упрямый котёнок sandwiched between как and ни?
The most natural word order for this construction is to place the subject right between как and ни. While you might occasionally see the subject placed elsewhere, the как + [subject] + ни + [verb] pattern is the standard way to phrase "no matter how [subject] [verbs]".
Why is старается in the imperfective aspect here? Could we use the perfective?
Старается (imperfective) is used because the kitten's effort is an ongoing, repeated struggle. Concessive clauses with как ни frequently use imperfective verbs to emphasize this continuous attempt. You would only use a perfective verb here if you were talking about a single, specific future attempt.
Why use the perfective открыть instead of the imperfective открывать after не может?