Breakdown of На пасеке было много пыльцы, но её было не во что собирать.
она
she / it (for a feminine noun)
много
a lot
в
in / to (direction)
на
on, at / by (transport) / to (a place) / to (in answer to)
быть
to be
но
but
собирать
to pack / to collect, gather
нечего
nothing (there is nothing to...)
пасека
apiary
пыльца
pollen
Questions & Answers about На пасеке было много пыльцы, но её было не во что собирать.
Why do we use не instead of ни in не во что?
This belongs to a special group of impersonal expressions that mean there is nothing or no one to do an action. In these phrases, the negative particle is always не (which carries the stress) and is paired with an infinitive. When a preposition is needed, it goes right in the middle, splitting it into three words: не во что.
Why does the preposition take the form во instead of just в?
The preposition в frequently changes to во to make pronunciation easier when it comes directly before certain consonant clusters. In this sentence, it is inserted right before the difficult чт cluster in что.
Why is the second было neuter, and is it strictly necessary here?
Yes, it is strictly necessary to show that the action happened in the past! Expressions like не во что собирать are impersonal, meaning they have no grammatical subject. Because there is no subject to dictate gender or number, the past tense defaults to the neuter singular form было.
Why does the object pronoun её come so early in the second clause?
The pronoun её refers back to the feminine noun пыльца and is the direct object of собирать. While you could technically place it at the very end of the sentence, Russian object pronouns naturally migrate toward the beginning of a clause. This immediately connects it back to the pollen mentioned a moment ago.
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