# за что бы они ни взялись, у них выходит ровно противоположно



## tristein

Hello,

I'm having a hard time understanding the second half of the following sentence:

"Перечень факапов наших лидеров можно продолжать бесконечно: за что бы они ни взялись, у них выходит ровно противоположное."

It comes from here:

http://www.snob.ru/profile/26703/blog/63722

I can't get my head around what is being negated by the particle ни -- "what they would not grasp/undertake". I'm also confused about the last phrase -- I know that у них выходит is used to express "they ran out of...". But what are they running out of here -- the precise opposite of what they would not undertake?

As you can see, I'm confused. I would greatly appreciate insights from native speakers.

Thanks in advance.


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## VicNicSor

За что бы они ни взялись, у них выходит ровно противоположное. -- Whatever they _get down to/start to do_, it (usually) results in the exact opposite (of what they've wanted).
(By the way, "факап" is 'fuck-up', written in Russian letters, but uttered the same as in English.)


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## tristein

Thanks! I still don't understand what "ни" is doing in the first part of the sentence...

I couldn't figure out what was meant by "факапов", but I found it in the online dictionary of Russian youth slang. Me likey!


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## VicNicSor

"Hи" is often used for emphasis:
За что бы они ни взялись = Всё, за что они бeрутся (these two phrases are not interchangeable in the sentence, though)
from a Ru-En dictionary:
кто бы ни — whoever 
что бы ни — whatever 
где бы ни — wherever 
когда бы ни — whenever 
как бы ни — however


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## morbo

The 'ни' particle isn't used solely for negation; in fact, when employed for the purposes of negation, it is most often used before nouns, pronouns, adverbs, infinitives, adjectives (others may add something here) to emphasize the scope of a negative verb phrase made negative by adding the 'не' particle in front of the verb: 
'Рычаг не двигался ни туда, ни сюда.' -- The lever wouldn't move either way.; 'Кот не выглядел ни старым, ни уставшим.' -- The cat looked neither old nor tired.; 'Я так и не встретил ни Ивана, ни его друга.' -- In the end I met neither Ivan nor his friend.

Its second major role is to introduce an unlimited set of unspecified alternatives, unspecified extent, etc.:
'Как бы далеко ни продвинулась эта технология, ее коммерческий потенциал неочевиден.' -- However far this technology may evolve, its commercial protential is far from obvious.; 'Кем бы он ни был, не впускай его.' -- Whoever he is, don't let him in.

Your example is an example of the latter use of the particle.


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## igusarov

tristein said:


> I'm also confused about the last phrase -- I know that у них выходит is used to express "they ran out of...".


"*вы*ходит" (literally: out goes) here is quite similar to "*out*put / *out*come",  apart from the Russian word being a verb. Whatever they set their hands  to - the outcome is exactly the opposite [of what was desired].



tristein said:


> I still don't understand what "ни" is doing in the first part of the sentence...


If  used in a positive declarative sentence, "ни" means that the statement  holds true under all possible circumstances. In a negative (or  imperative) sentence the meaning would be different, though.


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## tristein

Thanks, All for the fantastic explanations. I've learned a lot from your help in this thread!


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## Saluton

tristein said:


> I know that у них выходит is used to express "they ran out of...".


This is not correct. To express "they ran out of...", we use the verb кончиться or закончиться: They ran out of petrol - У них кончился бензин.
У них выходит is indeed used to describe the result of some actions ("they get..."), like in this context.


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## igusarov

Saluton said:


> This is not correct.


Er... "Кончиться" and "закончиться" are by far more popular verbs, but the verb "выходить" _could_ be used in a sense "run out of something" too. In certain context, of course, most often if its perfective counterpart is used in the past tense. For example: "У меня весь табак вышел" (Маршак).


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## Saluton

igusarov said:


> For example: "У меня весь табак вышел" (Маршак).


Archaic (when did Marshak live?) and in the past tense. Who would say so today? In present? У меня выходит табак? I don't even think you would.


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## Maroseika

I'm not sure выходить was ever used in the sense of кончаться in the imperfect form. But выйти - кончиться doesn't seem to me archaic, just bookish.
And of course it is quite alive in the sayings like был, да весь вышел or вышел срок (хранения).


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## Saluton

That's right but the expression in question was *у них выходит*. Your message as well as igusarov's PM reminded me that we can say so about time: *у них выходит время/срок* - they're running out of time. Yes, I did miss that point, thanks.


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## Ёж!

VikNikSor said:


> "Hи" is often used for emphasis:


   I'd put the word, for indeterminate choice (we can choose anything among a great number of variants); indeed like the 'ever' part in the English conjunctions. This use is very akin to the use as 'neither/nor', where we again choose a number of things that we say aren't right out of many that indeed aren't, with the difference that the number is finite (usually two, but by far not necessarily: «у него не было ни трубки, ни табака, ни спичек» (and of course he lacked many other things as well, like a sputnik, for example).


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## Enquiring Mind

tristein said:


> (...) I can't get my head around what is being negated by the particle ни (...)



Hi tristein, as the other posters have noted, the function of ни is not negatory here.  It translates as who/what/why/when/where _*ever*_, or *no matter* who/what/why/when/where, or *regardless* who/what/why/when/where, or *it makes no difference* who/what/why/when/where...). Here are some more examples (source: otvet.mail.ru) :

Кто бы это ни был, скажи ему, что я занят.
No matter who it is, tell him I'm busy (or _whoever it is_, or _regardless who it is_, or _it makes no difference who it is_ ...).

Что бы они ни сказали, не верьте им.
No matter what they say, don't believe them (or _whatever they say_, or _regardless what_, or _it makes no difference what_ ...). 

Как бы поздно ты не пришёл, позвони мне.
No matter how late you arrive, ring me (or _however late_, or _regardless how late_, or _it makes no difference how late_ ....).

Куда бы ты ни пошёл, я пойду с тобой.
No matter where you go, I'll go with you (or _wherever you go_,  or _regardless where _... etc., as above).

Когда бы ты ни попросил о помощи, я помогу.
No matter when you ask for help, I'll help you (or _whenever_ _you ask_, or _regardless when_...etc., as above).

Где бы он ни был, мы его найдём.
Wherever he is, we'll find him (Or _no matter where_ ..., or _regardless where_... etc., as above).

Не трогай это, чем это ни было***.
Don't touch it, no matter what it is  (or _whatever it is_, or _regardless what it is_, etc., as above).

Куда бы ты ни пришёл, не забудь поздороваться.
No matter where you are, don't forget to give a greeting (or _wherever you are_, or _regardless where_, etc., as above). 

Кто бы ни постучал, не открывай дверь.
No matter who knocks, don't open the door (or _whoever knocks_, or _regardless who knocks_ ... etc., as above). 

Когда бы я ни позвонил, его всегда нет дома.
No matter when I ring, he's never at home (or _whenever I ring_, or _regardless when I ring_... etc., as above). 

I've offered the shortest and, ин май хамбл апиньан , most idiomatic translation.  Many other variants are possible. The particle бы introduces conditionality (e.g. Кто бы ни постучал... - in fact, nobody might knock at all) so using "might" would usually also be appropriate in English.

[***I copied the Russian from the native speaker on the source page; I suspect "бы" is missing here.  The natives will tell us .]
[[ps: Unfortunately, not a single one of the answers on the linked source page is possible.]]


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## Ёж!

Enquiring Mind said:


> [***I copied the Russian from the native speaker on the source page; I suspect "бы" is missing here.  The natives will tell us .]


Yes it is.


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## tristein

Thanks for all the clarifications. The examples from otvet.mail.ru are very cool! (For some reason, I can't access the link, maybe because I'm in the US). 

This has been a great Russian lesson for me, thanks for taking the time to respond so thoroughly!


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## Colora

Hi! Tristein, I'd like to make this clear for you. "Word-for-word" translation does not accurately convey the sense of the original, that is why you got confused with this translation. Hope I could make it 
"Перечень факапов наших лидеров можно продолжать бесконечно: за что бы они ни взялись, у них выходит ровно противоположное."
The list of F*ed-up things of our leaders can be continued forever; whatever they have tried to do in life, the eventual results turn out to be the exact opposite of what they expect.


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## tristein

Thanks, Colora, for the awesome translation!


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