Why is 'no' in Russian sometimes written separately and sometimes together with other words?
One of the most difficult rules of Russian grammar is how to spell 'не' (‘no’) with different words. Sometimes, even Russians themselves can't deal with it!
The prefix or particle 'не' ('ne'; ‘no’) in Russian is used very often. This negation can be added to almost every word, but ‘не’ can be written differently, depending on the word and the context!
“Несомненно, тебе не стоит ехать неизвестной дорогой.”
“Surely, you shouldn't take an unknown road.”
This example has several versions of 'не' and all of them can be explained by different rules.
First of all, you need to indicate what ‘Part Of Speech’ (POS or grammatical category) you are dealing with. That's the half of the success.
There is also a common rule for every part of speech. If a word simply doesn't exist without 'не', then it should be written together. For example: 'ненавидеть' (‘hate’) or ‘негодяй’ (‘scoundrel’). There are no such words as 'навидеть' or ‘годяй’.
For the rest, here are some general rules:
1. ‘Не’ with verbs
With most verbs, 'не' is always written separately! This is the easiest rule.
Like in an example above: “Тебе не стоит ехать неизвестной дорогой…” – you shouldn’t take an unknown road..
There are also a few complicated cases when you have not just 'не', but 'недо'. In these cases, you should follow the context.
“Дети никогда не доедали свой завтрак.” – “Children never finished their breakfast.”
“Во время войны, дети недоедали.” – “During the war, children were malnourished.”
Absolutely the same rule applies to transgressive forms of verbs.
“Не сказав ни слова, он ушел.” – “Without saying a word, he left.”
Find detailed rules (in Russian) at Gramota.ru.
2. ‘Не’ with nouns
If you happen to come upon a construction that contradicts with the 'a' (‘rather’, ‘but’) сonjunction, then, in most cases, you will spell 'не' separately.
“Он мне не друг, а враг.” – “He is not my friend, he’s my enemy.”
However, if, together with 'не', the word gets another meaning, which suits the context, it should be written together.
“Наши недруги (враги) испугались нас.” – “Our enemies are afraid of us.”
A noun should be also written separately when there are other words indicating a stronger negation: ‘далеко не’, ‘отнюдь не’, ‘ничуть не’, ‘вовсе не’, ‘совсем не’, ‘разве не’. They can all be translated in English as ‘not at all’.
“Ты совсем не дурак.” – “You're not at all an idiot.”
Find more detailed rules (in Russian) at Gramota.ru.
3. ‘Не’ with adjectives
‘Не’ usually is written together with adjectives, but the separation rules are quite similar to nouns.
If you happen to come upon a construction that contradicts with the 'a' (‘rather’, ‘but’) сonjunction, then, in most cases you, will spell 'не' separately.
“Он не умный, а глупый.” – “Не is not smart, but stupid.”
You also should write them separately with a stronger negation: ‘далеко не’, ‘отнюдь не’, ‘ничуть не’, ‘вовсе не’, ‘совсем не’, ‘разве не’.
“Она далеко не глупая девушка.” – “She is by far not a stupid girl.”
Find more detailed rules (in Russian) at Gramota.ru.
4. ‘Не’ with adverbs
Again, the rules here are quite similar to adjectives.
‘Не’ is written separately with the construction ‘не… ‘a’.
“На улице не холодно, а жарко.” – “It’s not cold outside, it’s hot.”
‘Не’ is written separately with stronger negation.
“Он далеко не глупо поступил.” – “He didn’t act at all stupid.”
‘He’ is written together when the word doesn’t exist without it.
“Он небрежно записал слова в тетрадь.” – “He carelessly wrote the words down in his notebook.”
‘He’ is written together when it gives an additional meaning to the word which can be replaced with a synonym.
“Он невесело (грустно) посмотрел в окно.” – “He looked sadly out the window.”
Find detailed rules (in Russian) at Gramota.ru.
5. ‘Не’ with participles
With participles, rules become a little bit complicated. But, at the same time, it rarely has discussional situations, like with adjectives and adverbs.
‘Не’ is written separately with the construction ‘не’… ‘a’. (But, it’s a complicated construction, so better not to use it!)
“Он ел не запеченную, а сваренную картошку.” – “He ate a potato that was not baked but boiled.”
‘Не’ is written separately with a shortened form of principle.
“Дверь не закрыта.” – “The door isn’t closed.”
Participles are written together with ‘не’ when they don’t have any words that depend on it.
“Он жил в недостроенном доме.” – “He lived in a house that wasn’t built up.”
NOTE: Participles are written separately when there is a word that depends on this participle.
“Он жил в еще не достроенном доме.” – “He lived in a house that wasn’t built up yet.”
Find more detailed rules (in Russian) at Gramota.ru.
