по делу

Hi!

How do you translate "по делу" into English?

Нескольких человек задержали по делу о покушении на XXX.

Why don't you say just -> Нескольких человек задержали из-за покушение на XXX.

Does this "по" mean "by (means of)"? Something like -> Cut the bread with this knife.

As for your example, the word "дело" there means "case". Like in a phrase "a criminal case".
In some cases we can also use a phrase "по обвинению в покушении" instead of "по делу о покушении". "По обвинению в покушении" = "on charges of assassination attempt".

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Originally Posted by George1992

Does this "по" mean "by (means of)"? Something like -> Cut the bread with this knife.

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I don't think so.

Thanks a lot.

I have a few more questions.

Why "о" is used there? What does it mean and which preposition is it in English?
Do you pronounce it as "a" or "o" in the sentence?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by George1992

Why "о" is used there? What does it mean and which preposition is it in English?

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дело о покушении — an attempted murder case (literally: case about an attempted murder).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by George1992

Do you pronounce it as "a" or "o" in the sentence?

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It’s unstressed, so «а».

It is possible to pronounce "о" and "а" as well. It depends on a dialect.