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If you take a look at the book «Верховный алгоритм: Как машинное обучение изменит наш мир», in the first line of page 191, you'll read:

"..., что объективной реальности вообще не существует"

Why is реальность in its genitive form? Shouldn't it be nominative: ("объективная реальность вообще не существует"), as here реальность is the subject of verb существует?

shabunc
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Seb
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    https://russian.stackexchange.com/questions/12641/why-мамы-здесь-нет-not-мама-здесь-нет – Elena Dec 29 '17 at 18:57
  • You are meeting the phenomenon called "negative genitive," which is a phrase you can search for to find further discussion of this construction in Russian. – KCd Dec 30 '17 at 12:53
  • it's also known as Abessive or Caritive and Privative case – Баян Купи-ка Jan 03 '18 at 13:54

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This is a type of sentence which is called impersonal (subjectless).

Please take a look.

With negation of the verb существовать this form of sentence is especially common.

It's also a normative pattern for negation of the verb быть (бывать). While there's me is translated as я есть, there's no me is translated as меня нет where меня is Genitive of я.

The English there's (no) me is also a subjectless type of sentence.

Баян Купи-ка
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  • So English actually follows same pattern as Russian by using objective case. They should say "It is I". "It's me" is incorrect from grammar point of view, because "to be" requires use of nominative "I": "It was I who allowed Alliance to know the location.." – Swift Oct 05 '20 at 00:18