Asked • 03/19/19

Why say "мне не место", not "мне нет места"?

> Таким людям, как я, **не место** в этом мире.I wonder why "не" instead of "нет" precedes the noun "место" in this expression -- not to mention the lack of the genitive "места". Compared to:> Таким людям, как я, **нет места** в этом мире.

Yelena F.

tutor
The word combination "Не место" (в этом мире) requires Dative case and then Prepositional case, it is a colloquial expression meaning "somebody should not be/present/ do something/ appear/come to some certain place. For example, the title of the movie "No Country for Old Men" was translated as "Старикам тут не место". "Мне нет места" has a similar meaning, but "I don't have a [personal] space/right to dwell somewhere (psychologically or physically)". For example, the title of the film "I Don't Belong Anywhere" was translated as "Мне нигде нет места". Another example can be a popular pop-song "Мне нет места в твоём сердце". Grammar-wise, the pattern should be a combination of Dative case with Genitive case of the noun "место" plus Prepositional case (or it could be Genitive case). The meaning can be quite emotional - someone/something should not be with somebody, among some people: "Ему нет места среди нас!"
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03/04/20

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Victoria V. answered • 08/21/20

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Professional Russian language instructor 15+ years of experience
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Мне не место- I shouldn't live

Мне нет места- There is no room(physical space)for me.

For example Я плохой человек, мне не место жить с такими прекрасными людьми.

В этой маленькой квартире мне нет места.

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