Breakdown of Чей проект мы ни выберем, они категорически против.
мы
we
они
they
чей
whose (m, sister forms: чья, чьё)
проект
the project
против
against
выбрать
to choose (perfective)
ни
no matter (concessive particle)
категорически
categorically
Questions & Answers about Чей проект мы ни выберем, они категорически против.
Why do we use ни here instead of не?
In this sentence, ни works with the question word чей (whose) to create a universal concessive clause, meaning "no matter whose." If you used не, it would simply negate the verb ("we will not choose"), whereas ни emphasizes that the outcome is the same regardless of the choice.
Does the particle ни have to go right before the verb?
Yes. In these "no matter what/who/whose" structures, ни must immediately precede the verb. Even though the question word phrase is Чей проект (whose project), you cannot put the particle in the middle of it; it must sit directly in front of выберем.
Why is выберем in the future tense if the English translation uses the present tense "choose"?
English often uses the present tense for future conditional or hypothetical actions. Russian is more literal with time here and requires the future perfective tense (выберем) because the actual event of choosing will happen and be completed in the future.
The English translation says "against it," but I don't see a word for "it" in the Russian sentence. Is this normal?
Yes, it is perfectly normal and very common. In Russian, the preposition против (against) can be used on its own without an object pronoun if the context makes it obvious. While you could technically say против него, just saying они категорически против is extremely natural.
What case is чей проект in here?
It is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of the verb выберем. Because проект is an inanimate masculine noun, its accusative form looks exactly like its nominative case form.
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