Breakdown of Что бы он ни сделал, я никогда не буду его осуждать.
не
not
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
я
I
что
what
Questions & Answers about Что бы он ни сделал, я никогда не буду его осуждать.
Why is there a ни in Что бы он ни сделал if the meaning isn't negative?
In Russian, expressing 'no matter what' or 'whatever' is done by combining a question word like Что, the particle бы, the particle ни, and a past tense verb. Here, ни does not negate the verb; instead, it acts together with the question word to mean 'ever' (whatever, wherever, etc.).
The verb сделал is in the past tense. Can this phrase also refer to the future, like 'Whatever he does'?
Yes. The structure of a question word + бы + ни + past tense verb describes a hypothetical or universal situation, not strictly a past one. Because the second half of the sentence is in the future tense (не буду осуждать), the first part can comfortably mean 'Whatever he might do' or 'No matter what he does' in the future.
Can the particle бы be moved to a different spot, such as Что он бы ни сделал?
No, in these concessive clauses, the particle бы must immediately follow the question word. They act as a fixed pair at the beginning of the clause, so you will always see combinations like Что бы, Где бы, or Как бы.
Why use the perfective сделал but the imperfective осуждать?