Breakdown of Это заброшенный город, здесь ни намёка на людей.
это
this / it is
здесь
here
город
city
на
on, at / by (transport) / to (a place) / to (in answer to)
люди
people
ни
neither / nor
заброшенный
abandoned
намёк
hint
Questions & Answers about Это заброшенный город, здесь ни намёка на людей.
Why is it ни намёка instead of нет намёка?
Using the particle ни right before a noun in the Genitive case, without any verb like нет, is an emphatic way to say "not a single..." or "not even a...". Here, it strongly emphasizes the total absence of people: "not even a hint".
If I wanted to include a verb in the second clause, what would it be and where would it go?
You would use the negative existential word нет (there is not) and place it right before the ни: здесь нет ни намёка на людей. Dropping нет makes the statement punchier and is a very common stylistic choice for this grammar structure.
What type of word is заброшенный and how is it formed?
It is a past passive participle formed from the perfective verb забросить (to abandon). The -енн- suffix is characteristic of these participles, turning the verb into an adjective meaning "abandoned" (literally: "having been abandoned").
Why do we say намёк на людей (with the preposition на) if the English translation is "hint of people"?
Russian nouns often require specific prepositions that don't match English. The noun намёк (hint) requires the preposition на + Accusative case to express what is being hinted at. Since люди (people) is animate, its Accusative plural form is identical to its Genitive plural form (людей).
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