Breakdown of Какую бы страну она ни выбрала, она не покинет нас навсегда.
не
not
она
she / it (for a feminine noun)
мы
we
какой
which/what kind of (m, sister forms: какая, какое)
Questions & Answers about Какую бы страну она ни выбрала, она не покинет нас навсегда.
Why is the verb выбрала in the past tense if the main clause is about the future ('she will not leave')?
This is the core rule for this construction. The particle бы always requires its verb to be in the past tense, even if the action refers to the future. Together with ни, it creates the 'no matter which' meaning, so какую бы... ни выбрала translates to 'whichever she might choose.'
Does the ни before выбрала make that part of the sentence negative?
No, it doesn't. In the pattern [interrogative word] + бы ни, the particle ни does not negate the verb. Instead, it turns the question word into an '-ever' word (whichever, wherever, whoever). The only actual negative in this sentence is the не before покинет.
Why are какую and страну in the accusative case when they are at the very beginning of the sentence?
They act as the direct object of the verb выбрала (she chose what? -> whichever country). Even though the object is pulled to the front to build the concessive clause, its case is still dictated by the verb it belongs to.
Could the word order of the particles change, such as Какую страну она бы ни выбрала?
Yes, that is also perfectly natural! The strictest word order rule here is that ни must come immediately before the verb. The particle бы is more flexible and can attach right after the question word (as in our sentence) or right after the subject.