???? ????????: not one, no one, not a single one
Among the many things I get wrong in Russian, properly using ???? and ???µ (not) is right up there at the top of the list. In spoken language, I can get away with a vowel sound somewhere between the short “?µ” of ???µ and the long “??” of ???? and pretend that any perceived incorrect usage is actually just my unfortunate accent.
But these adolescent tricks don’t work on the printed page. And so I’ve been struggling to understand when to use ???? and ???µ.
I think I’ve almost got it. ???? is used in some standard expressions that are fairly easy to memorize. The rest of the time, ???? is ???µ with an attitude.
Let’s start with the so-called easy stuff. ???? is used in “neither nor” expressions, such as ???? ?¶???? ???? ???‘?€?‚?? (neither dead nor alive); ???? ?€?‹?±?° ???? ???????? (neither fish nor foul); ???? ?‚?? ???? ???‘ (neither this nor that), ???? ?? ?‚?????? ???? ?? ???µ???? (all of a sudden, literally “neither due to this nor that”). ?? ???? ?·?°, ???? ???€???‚????. (I’m not for it or against it.) ???? ?…?»?µ?±?°, ???? ?·?€?µ?»???‰ ???°?€???? ???µ ?????»???‡???». (The people got neither bread nor circuses.)
???? makes an appearance as a stronger version of ???µ in a few standard adamant commands: ???? ?? ???µ???‚?°! (Don’t move an inch, -literally “not from that spot”). ???? ???°???? ???°?·?°??! (Never retreat, literally, “not a step back”).
When you use the words ???????? (one) or ?µ???????‹?? (a single), or when they are implied, you should use ???? and not ???µ. ?????° ???? ?€?°?·?? ???µ ?????·?????????»?°. (She didn’t call even once.) ?? ???µ???? ?? ???°?€???°???µ ???µ ?±?‹?»?? ???? ?€???±?»??. (I didn’t have a single ruble in my pocket.) ???? ???????? ?‡?µ?»?????µ?? ???µ ???€?????‘?» ???° ???µ?‡?µ?€????????. (Not a single person came to the party.) Here you need to listen or read carefully to distinguish between ???? and ???µ, since the phrase ???µ ???????? ?‡?µ?»?????µ?? ???€?????‘?» ???° ???µ?‡?µ?€???????? means the opposite: Many people (that is, “not just one person”) came to the party.
Then there are the confusing cases involving ???? when it looks like nobody and nothing, but it’s actually anybody and anything. When ???? is used with pronouns and adverbs like ???‚?? (who), ?‡?‚?? (what), ???°?????? (which), ???°?? (how), ???????° (where) and ???????»?????? (how much), it magically turns things into their opposites. ???‚?? ???? ???€?????‘?‚, ???°???° ?±?µ?¶???‚ ???‚?°?????‚?? ???°???????°?€. (No matter who comes, my mother runs to put on the samovar.) ?“???µ ?±?‹ ???? ???? ???????????»????, ?????????? ?µ???? ???·???°???‚. (Wherever he showed up, everyone knew him.)
The really tricky stuff is the usage of ???? that is an “intense negation.”
This drives Russian school children — and foreigners — crazy. When is it intense enough to use ????? Here’s an example: ?”?°???‚?µ ?????µ ?€??????????????. ???»??????????, ?? ???µ ???·???µ???? ?? ???µ?? ???? ???»?????°. (Give me the manuscript. I swear I won’t change a single word.) And here’s a poetic excerpt: ???? ???????° ?·???µ?·???° ???µ ???·?°?€???»?° ?‚?€???????‹?? ?????‚??. (Not a single star illuminated his difficult path.)
My rule of thumb is: If you can use the phrase “not a single” in English, go for ???? in Russian.
And if you’re not sure?
Ask native Russian speakers. And wait while they look it up.
Michele A. Berdy is a Moscow-based translator and interpreter. A collection of her columns, “The Russian Word’s Worth,” will be released by Glas this month.
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