Breakdown of Когда рой покидает улей, пчеловоду больше не для кого работать.
работать
to work
когда
when
для
for
больше
more (quantity or size) / no longer, anymore
некого
no one
покидать
to abandon
пчеловод
beekeeper
улей
hive
рой
swarm
Questions & Answers about Когда рой покидает улей, пчеловоду больше не для кого работать.
Why is некого split into three words as не для кого?
When a preposition (like для) is used with a predicative negative pronoun (like некого), the preposition must go in the middle, splitting it into three words. Since для requires the genitive case, the pronoun becomes кого. The stress is always on the particle не, giving us не́ для кого.
Could I use ни для кого instead of не для кого here?
No, because they mean different things and use different grammar. Не для кого is used with an infinitive (работать) and a dative subject (пчеловоду) to mean 'there is no one to work for'. Ни для кого is used in standard negative sentences to mean 'for nobody' (for example, я ни для кого не работаю - 'I do not work for anybody').
Why is the beekeeper (пчеловод) in the dative case here?
The second half of the sentence is an impersonal construction. In Russian, when you express 'there is no one for someone to do something' using некого or нечего, the logical subject (the person who lacks the opportunity) takes the dative case. So, пчеловоду ... работать means 'for the beekeeper, there is no one to work for'.
Why does улей (the hive) look like it's in the nominative case when it's the direct object of покидает?
It is actually in the accusative case. Because улей is an inanimate masculine noun, its accusative form is identical to its nominative form. The verb покидать (to leave or abandon) requires its direct object to be in the accusative case.
Why is больше не used here to mean 'no one left'?
In Russian, больше не (literally 'more not') is the standard way to express 'no longer' or 'not anymore'. Paired with the negative structure не для кого (no one to), it naturally translates to having no one 'left' to work for.
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