Breakdown of Им было не из чего строить соты, потому что воска не было.
не
not
они
they
строить
to build
потому что
because
быть
to be
из
out of
нечего
nothing (there is nothing to...)
соты
honeycombs
воск
wax
Questions & Answers about Им было не из чего строить соты, потому что воска не было.
Why does the preposition из split the word into three parts (не из чего)?
When a preposition is used with a predicative negative pronoun like нечего (there is nothing) or некого (there is no one), the preposition must go directly in the middle, splitting it into three separate words. Since the preposition из requires the Genitive case, the base pronoun что becomes чего.
Why do we use не из чего here instead of ни из чего?
Negative pronouns starting with не- are used in impersonal sentences with an infinitive (like строить) to mean 'there is nothing to [do]'. The stress always falls on не. Pronouns starting with ни- (like ни из чего) just mean 'out of nothing' and require a normally negated verb, for example: Они ничего не строили ни из чего (They didn't build anything out of nothing).
Why is 'They' translated as Им (Dative) rather than Они (Nominative)?
Sentences built around нечего (or its split forms like не из чего) are impersonal. The logical subject—the person who has nothing to do or use—must be in the Dative case, so они becomes им.
Why is воск (wax) in the Genitive case (воска) at the end of the sentence?
This is the Genitive of Negation. When expressing the complete absence or non-existence of something using нет, не было, or не будет, the item that doesn't exist must take the Genitive case, so воск becomes воска.
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