Breakdown of Как мы ни игнорируем собаку, она не перестаёт лаять.
не
not
она
she / it (for a feminine noun)
мы
we
собака
dog
как
how
игнорировать
to ignore
ни
not (negative particle in ни с кем, ни о чём)
переставать
to stop, to cease (imperfective)
лаять
to bark
Questions & Answers about Как мы ни игнорируем собаку, она не перестаёт лаять.
Why is the word ни used here instead of не, and does it negate the verb?
In Russian, phrases meaning 'no matter how' are formed with a question word like как plus the particle ни. This ни does not negate the verb. We actually are ignoring the dog; the как ни structure just emphasizes that our ignoring has no effect on the outcome.
Why is the subject мы placed between как and ни?
In these 'no matter how' constructions, it is very common to place a short subject pronoun right between the question word and the particle ни. You could also say Как ни игнорируем мы, but putting the pronoun in the middle flows very naturally. The particle ни likes to stay right in front of the verb it emphasizes.
Why is the infinitive лаять (to bark) in the imperfective aspect?
The verb перестаёт (stops) is a 'phase verb', meaning it describes the start, continuation, or end of an action. In Russian, phase verbs must always be followed by an imperfective infinitive, because they inherently describe an ongoing process being interrupted, continued, or begun.
If this were a future situation, would the grammar of the как ни clause change?
The structure remains the same, but the verb aspects and tenses would change. To say 'No matter how we (will) ignore the dog, it won't stop', you would use the future tense, usually with perfective verbs: Как мы ни проигнорируем собаку, она не перестанет лаять. Our example uses present imperfective to describe a regular, repeating situation.
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