Learn Russian: Что они ни твердят, им нечего терять, это бессмысленно. - No matter what they keep saying, they have nothing to lose, it is pointless.

This is the core structure for "no matter what." When you combine an interrogative word (like что) with the particle ни and a present or future tense verb, it creates a universal concessive clause. The ни here does not negate the verb; instead, it generalizes the action. Therefore, Что они ни твердят translates to "No matter what they keep saying," rather than being a negative statement.

Why use the verb твердят here instead of a more common verb like говорят?

Твердят comes from the verb твердить, which means to repeat something over and over, or to harp on a topic. It gives the sentence a more emphatic, slightly frustrated tone, highlighting that the people won't stop repeating themselves. It is an excellent B2 vocabulary word for adding emotional nuance compared to the basic говорят (they say).

Why is it им нечего терять instead of им ничего терять?

Нечего is a special negative pronoun used specifically with an infinitive to mean "there is nothing to [do]." This structure requires the logical subject to be in the dative case, which is why we see им (to them). If you used the standard ничего, you would need a nominative subject and a negated verb, such as они ничего не теряют (they are losing nothing). Им нечего терять is the exact idiomatic equivalent of "they have nothing to lose."

How does the pronunciation of differ from ?