Breakdown of Что бы ни произошло, мы обещали поддержать обоих друзей.
мы
we
что
what
друг
friend
обещать
to promise
бы
would (conditional particle) / concessive particle
оба
both (m/n)
ни
not (negative particle in ни с кем, ни о чём)
произойти
to happen, to occur (perfective of происходить)
поддержать
to support (perfective)
Questions & Answers about Что бы ни произошло, мы обещали поддержать обоих друзей.
Why does this sentence use ни in Что бы ни произошло instead of не?
In Russian, combining a question word (like что, кто, где) with бы ни creates a universal concessive clause, meaning 'no matter what,' 'whoever,' or 'wherever.' Here, что бы ни means 'whatever' or 'no matter what.' The ни acts as an emphasizing particle, not a negative one, so the sentence remains positive.
Why is the verb произошло in the past tense?
Any time you use the particle бы in Russian—including in these бы ни constructions—the verb that goes with it must be in the past tense form. This is a grammatical rule and doesn't restrict the meaning to the past; depending on context, Что бы ни произошло can mean 'Whatever happened' or 'Whatever happens in the future.'
Why do we say обоих друзей instead of оба друга?
The verb поддержать (to support) takes the accusative case. Since friends are animate (living beings), their plural accusative case matches the genitive case. The genitive/animate accusative form of the masculine word оба (both) is обоих, and the plural form of друг is друзей. If you were talking about inanimate objects, like two projects, it would be the regular accusative: оба проекта.
Why use the perfective verb поддержать instead of the imperfective поддерживать?
Using the perfective поддержать frames the support as a complete, successful action or a specific event being promised. If they used the imperfective поддерживать, it would mean they promised to be in a continuous, ongoing state of supporting the friends.
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