Breakdown of Кого бы они ни осудили, мы останемся вместе.
кто
who / whoever
мы
we
они
they
вместе
together
остаться
to stay
бы
would (conditional particle) / concessive particle
ни
not (negative particle in "with no one", "about nothing")
осудить
to condemn (perfective)
Questions & Answers about Кого бы они ни осудили, мы останемся вместе.
Why is the verb осудили in the past tense if the action hasn't necessarily happened yet?
In Russian, phrases meaning 'no matter who' or 'whomever' are built using a question word plus the particles бы ни. Because the particle бы sets up a hypothetical or conditional situation, the verb attached to it must always take the past tense form, even when referring to the present or future.
Why do we use ни here instead of не? Isn't it a negative sentence?
This is a classic trap! This is not a negative sentence. In this specific grammar structure, ни acts as an intensifier that pairs with the question word Кого to mean 'whomever' or 'no matter who'. If you used не, it would mean 'did not condemn', which completely breaks the 'no matter what' meaning.
Why does the sentence start with Кого instead of Кто?
The pronoun at the start is the direct object of the verb осудили (condemned). Because this verb requires the accusative case, and the pronoun refers to people (animate), the nominative кто changes to the accusative кого.
What dictates the exact word order of бы and ни in this sentence?
In this construction, the conditional particle бы usually directly follows the question word. The emphasizing particle ни comes right before the verb. This gives us the standard sandwich structure: Question Word + бы + Subject + ни + Past Tense Verb.
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