Breakdown of Кому он ни звонит, он вечно твердит свой план, и ни с кем не соглашается.
и
and
не
not
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
кто
who / whoever
звонить
to call
план
plan
с
with (also со)
свой
one's own
соглашаться
to agree (imperfective)
ни
not (negative particle in ни с кем, ни о чём)
вечно
constantly
твердить
to reiterate
Questions & Answers about Кому он ни звонит, он вечно твердит свой план, и ни с кем не соглашается.
Why is ни used in Кому он ни звонит instead of не?
This is the structure for 'no matter who'. It combines a question word (кому) with the particle ни and a verb. Despite looking like a negative, it means he actually does call people. If you used не, it would mean 'Who is he not calling?'.
Why is the first word Кому (Dative) instead of Кого (Accusative)?
The verb звонить (to call on the phone) always takes the Dative case for the person being called. Because the clause means 'no matter who he calls', the word 'who' must take the Dative form (кому).
Why use свой for 'his plan' instead of его?
The reflexive possessive pronoun свой refers back to the subject of the clause (он). Using свой clearly means it is his own plan. If you used его here, a Russian speaker might assume he is reiterating a different man's plan.
Why is the preposition с placed in the middle of ни с кем?
When a negative pronoun like никто (nobody) is used with a preposition, the preposition splits the word into three separate parts: ни + preposition + pronoun. Because соглашаться (to agree) requires с + Instrumental case, никто splits into ни с кем. Also note the required double negation with не before the verb.
Does the word вечно literally mean 'eternally' here?
Literally yes, but in conversational Russian, вечно is frequently used to mean 'constantly' or 'always'. It usually carries a slight tone of annoyance or exasperation, perfectly matching the tiresomely repetitive action of the verb твердить (to reiterate).
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