Breakdown of На кого бы они ни нападали, он всегда защищал слабых.
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
кто
who / whoever
они
they
всегда
always
на
on, at / by (transport) / to (a place) / to (in answer to)
слабый
weak
бы
would (conditional particle) / concessive particle
ни
not (negative particle in "with no one", "about nothing")
нападать
to attack
защищать
to protect (defend from attack or harm)
Questions & Answers about На кого бы они ни нападали, он всегда защищал слабых.
Why does this sentence use ни if the overall meaning isn't negative?
In Russian, combining a question word (like кого), the particle бы, the particle ни, and a past tense verb creates a universal concessive clause. This pattern translates to an "-ever" word in English (whoever, whenever, however). The ни here doesn't negate the verb; instead, the whole structure means "no matter who they attacked."
Why does the preposition на come at the very beginning of the sentence instead of before the verb?
The verb нападать (to attack) requires the preposition на followed by the accusative case. In Russian, prepositions must stay directly attached to the front of the pronoun they govern. Therefore, на comes before the question word кого, and the particles бы and ни follow the entire prepositional phrase На кого.
The sentence describes a general, repeated action. Why is the verb нападали forced into the past tense?
Any time you use the particle бы to form a concessive or conditional mood like this one, Russian grammar strictly dictates that the accompanying verb must be in the past tense form. This rule applies regardless of whether the actual timeframe of the event is past, present, or future.
Why does the word for "the weak" (слабых) look like it is in the genitive case?
It is actually in the accusative case! Here, the adjective слабый is acting as a noun to mean "weak people." Because the verb защищал takes a direct object, and "the weak" are living beings, it follows the animate plural accusative rule, making its form identical to the genitive case.
Learn На кого бы они ни нападали, он всегда защищал слабых and more in Russian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free