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My understanding is that when describing the absence of the subject of a verb, the dative form некому is used along with the verb infinitive. For example, Некому о ней заботиться means There is no one to take care of her, where the subject of заботиться (the one who offers to take care) is absent.

If that's the case, if the verb also takes dative as its object, e.g. помочь/помогать, how to distinguish whether некому refers to the subject or the object?

Specifically, for these sentences:

  1. Мне некому помочь
  2. Мне некому помогать
  3. Некому мне помочь
  4. Некому мне помогать

Do they mean "There is no one to offer help", "There is no one to be helped", or ambiguous between the two meanings, respectively for each sentence?

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  • These sentences are ambiguous, as you say. They could mean both. Therefore if it is unclear from the context, which meaning is implied, it is better to avoid this structure. Compare, for example: (1) Мне некому помочь, но очень хочется предложить кому-то свою помощь. (2) Я беспомощный, и мне некому помочь.
    – Vosoni
    Commented Nov 15 at 14:43
  • While they are, as pointed out, ambiguous, the word structure still suggests the more likely interpretation absent any context or word stress (i.e. 1 is more likely to mean "I have no one to offer help to" while 3 is more likely to be used for "There is no one to offer help to me")
    – Dan M.
    Commented Nov 21 at 15:36

1 Answer 1

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Such sentences are inherently ambiguous and the meaning will depend on the context.

Other similar examples:

  • Ей хочется подарить цветы.
  • Ему нужно сделать массаж.

how to distinguish whether некому refers to the subject or the object?

These sentences don't have a subject. The ambiguity arises when choosing the object of the verb.

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