Breakdown of Без пыльцы соты остаются пустыми, и нам не на что надеяться.
и
and
мы
we
на
on, at / by (transport) / to (a place) / to (in answer to)
пустой
empty
без
without
надеяться
to hope
оставаться
to stay / to remain (imperfective)
нечего
nothing (there is nothing to...)
соты
honeycombs
пыльца
pollen
Questions & Answers about Без пыльцы соты остаются пустыми, и нам не на что надеяться.
Why is it divided into three separate words: не на что?
When a negative pronoun like нечего is used with a preposition, the preposition physically splits the word. The preposition goes directly between the prefix не- and the root pronoun что (which takes the accusative case here because of the preposition на).
Why do we use не на что here instead of ни на что?
The не series of negative pronouns is used in impersonal sentences with an infinitive to mean that there is nothing available to do an action with. The ни series is used for standard negation alongside a negated verb. If you wanted to use the ни version, you would have to change the structure to a personal sentence: мы ни на что не надеемся (we don't hope for anything).
Why is the second clause using нам in the dative case rather than мы?
Constructions using the не series of negative pronouns plus an infinitive are impersonal. Because there is no grammatical subject performing an active verb, the person experiencing this lack of options must be expressed in the dative case (нам).
Why is пустыми (empty) in the instrumental case?
The verb оставаться (to remain) acts as a linking verb here. Adjectives describing the state that a subject remains in are typically put in the instrumental case rather than the nominative.
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