Breakdown of Заброшенный город лишился всего: ни звука, ни одного растения.
город
city
один
one
звук
sound
весь
all, the whole, everything, everyone
ни
neither / nor
лишиться
to be deprived of (pf)
заброшенный
abandoned
растение
the plant
Questions & Answers about Заброшенный город лишился всего: ни звука, ни одного растения.
Why are звука and растения in the genitive case here if there is no negative word like нет?
This sentence demonstrates verbless existential negation. The particle ни paired directly with a noun in the genitive case expresses the absolute absence of something. The verb is completely omitted for dramatic effect, acting exactly like 'not a single...' in English.
Could we just say ни растения instead of ни одного растения?
Yes, ни растения is grammatically correct and means 'not a plant.' However, adding одного (the genitive form of один) strongly emphasizes the total emptiness of the city. It translates to 'not a single plant' and enhances the dramatic tone.
Why is the word for 'everything' (всё) changed to всего in the first half of the sentence?
The verb лишиться (to be deprived of, to lose) always requires its object to be in the genitive case. Since the city was deprived of 'everything', the nominative всё becomes the genitive всего.
Is заброшенный related to the verb бросить (to throw)?
Yes! It is a past passive participle formed from the prefixed verb забросить (to abandon, to cast away). Participles often function as adjectives, so here it simply translates as 'deserted' or 'abandoned.'
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