Breakdown of Пчёлы летят через поле за нектаром, и им не за что нас жалить.
и
and
не
not
мы
we
они
they
поле
field
через
through
лететь
to fly (one direction)
нечего
nothing (there is nothing to...)
за
for (in exchange for)
пчела
bee
нектар
the nectar
жалить
to sting
Questions & Answers about Пчёлы летят через поле за нектаром, и им не за что нас жалить.
Why is не за что written as three separate words here?
When a preposition (like за) is used with a predicative negative pronoun (like нечего), the preposition splits the pronoun in two. So, нечего plus the preposition за becomes не за что (meaning "nothing to [do something] for"). Remember that the stress always falls on не in these constructions.
Could I use ни за что here instead of не за что?
No, because they have completely different meanings. не за что (with stress on не) means "there is nothing to [do something] for." ни за что (with stress on что) means "not for anything" or "no way!" Using ни за что here would change the meaning to "they will absolutely not sting us," losing the sense of "they have no reason to sting us."
Why does the preposition за take the instrumental case in за нектаром but the accusative case in за что?
The preposition за has different meanings depending on the case it takes. With the instrumental case (за нектаром), it means going to fetch or get something (flying "for nectar"). With the accusative case (за что), it indicates the cause, reason, or exchange for an action ("for what reason").
Why is "they" translated using the dative им in the second clause?
Russian uses a dative subject plus an infinitive verb to express "having [nothing/something] to do." The logical subject who experiences this lack of options must be in the dative case (им), followed by the split negative pronoun (не за что) and the infinitive verb (жалить).
Why use the unidirectional verb of motion летят instead of the multidirectional летают?
летят shows that the bees are currently making a specific, one-way trip toward a goal (across the field to get nectar). If you used летают, it would imply they are flying around aimlessly or just making general, habitual flights back and forth.
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