Thread: A Few Areas of Confusion

Привет всем!

I have been noting down miscillaneous gaps in my understanding as they've appeared over the previous week.

1. The case use for the possessives in the following sentences is confusing me.

* А что случилось с его чрезвычайной коммиссей?
* Когда я буду в Москве, я позвоню его сестре.
* В течение этого времени я думал о моём друге Владимире.

In the first example, the possessive is nominitive.
In the second example, the possessive is accusative.
In the third example, the possessive is prepositional.

Why, in the first example, is the possessive not instrumental? i.e. Why does it not agree with "c"?
Why, in the second example, is the possessive not dative? i.e. Why does it not agree with "позвоню" or "сестрe"?
Why, in the third example, is the possessive prepositional? i.e. Why does it agree with "о"?

А что случилось с его чрезвычайной коммиссей? [c + instrumental. Possessive is not instrumental]
В течение этого времени я думал о моём друге Владимире. [o + prepositional. Possessive is prepositional]
Why is the possessive agreeing with the preposition in the third example but not in the first?


2. Which, if any, of the following groups of words are interchangable synonyms and what is the difference in usage between the ones than aren't?

a) "должно быть"; "Наверное"
b) "Причина"; "Повод"
c) "Надо"; "Нужно"; "Должен/Должн-а/о/ы"
d) "За"; "Для"
e) "Нельзя"; "Возможно"
f) "Давно"; "Долго"; "Долгое время"
g) "Потом"; "Затем"; "Тогда"; "То"
h) "Как раз"; "Точно"
i) "Всё-таки"; "Всё равно"

Many thanks.

Hi. What is that you don't understand about "мой"? I don't really get the question. The verb "думать о" needs the following noun to be in the accusative case, and all the rest words that are realted to that noun have to be of the same case, so the pronoun is in the prepositional case.

	Transitive and Intransitive verbs
	А. Verbs that take a direct object are called transitive verbs. They are indicated by a "v.t." in the dictionary. The direct object answers the question что? (what?) or кого? (whom?) asked after the verb and receives the action of the verb directly, without prepositions separating the verb from the receiver. Study the following example:
	1. Он читает газету. 1. He is reading a newspaper.
	The verb (читает - is reading) is followed by the noun (газету - a newspaper) answering the question что? (what): Он читает что? Answer: газету. - He is reading what? Answer: a newspaper. The noun газету is in the Accusative case. The Accusative case expresses the direct object. More examples of the transitive verbs followed by the direct object:
	2. Она пишет статью. 1. She is writing an article. 3. Мы смотрим телевизор. 2. We are watching TV. 4. Я изучаю русский язык. 3. I'm studying Russian. 5. Они редко слушают музыку. 3. They listen to the music rarely.
	Б. Verbs that do not take a direct object are called intransitive verbs. They are indicated by a "v.i." in the dictionary. An intransitive verb cannot take a direct object by definition. Study the following example:
	1. Он живёт в Москве. 1. He lives in Moscow.
	The verb (живёт - lives) cannot be followed by a noun answering the question что? (what?). The question we ask is где? (where): Он живёт где? Answer: в Москве. - He lives where? Answer: in Moscow. The noun в Москве is in the Prepositional case, and it is the indirect object. More examples of the intransitive verbs followed by the indirect object:
	2. Она работает в университете. 2. She works at university. 3. Я всегда отдыхаю в воскресенье. 3. I always relax on Sunday.
	Notes Some verbs may be used both transitively and intransitively. Some verbs are transitive in English but intransitive in Russian. Such verbs are to be mentioned and discussed later on.

a) "должно быть"; "Наверное"
Он, должно быть, голоден - He must be hungry.
Он, наверное, голоден - He is probably hungry.
b) "Причина" - cause; "Повод" - occasion.
Иван поссорился с подругой. Причиной ссоры было то, что он ее разлюбил, а поводом стал сломанный компьютер.
c) "Надо"; "Нужно"; "Должен/Должн-а/о/ы"
Надо = нужно = need to
Должен/Должн-а/о/ы = have to or must
d) "За"; "Для"
Depends on the context, way too many meanings.
e) "Нельзя" - imposible/not allowed, ; "Возможно" = possible/allowable
f) "Давно" - long ago; "Долго" - for long; "Долгое время" - for a long time
g) "Потом"; "Затем"; "Тогда"; "То"
Depends. Many meanings but they all but the last may mean "after". And all of them may mean "then".
h) "Как раз" - right; "Точно" - exectly
i) "Всё-таки" - after all; "Всё равно" - no matter what/regardless
Всё-таки ты пришел! - You are here after all!
Ты всё равно пришел! - You are here, no matter what.

Originally Posted by Mr Smith

Привет всем!

I have been noting down miscillaneous gaps in my understanding as they've appeared over the previous week.

1. The use of case in personal pronouns in the following structures is confusing me.

* А что случилось с его чрезвычайной коммиссей?
* Когда я буду в Москве, я позвоню его сестре.
* В течение этого времени я думал о моём друге Владимире.

The first two examples, where the personal pronouns are accusative (его)

They are possessive.

What happened to his special commission?
I was thinking about my friend.

Thanks for your responses!

I have re-written my initial post. I hope it explains my first problem more accurately!

А что случилось с его чрезвычайной комиссией? - Instrumental
Когда я буду в Москве, я позвоню его сестре. - Dative
В течение этого времени я думал о моём друге Владимире. - Prepositional

1. Possessive must agree in gender, number and case with the noun they modify (the thing possessed). Thus, for example, “my sister” will be "моя сестра" whether the speaker (“I”) is masculine or feminine.
2. Note, however, that the possessives that correspond to the third person personal pronouns (singular and plural) are unchanging in form. Corresponding to both он and оно is его (“his, its”); corresponding to она is её (“her, hers, its”); and corresponding to они is их (“their, theirs”).

Originally Posted by Hoax

А что случилось с его чрезвычайной комиссией? - Instrumental
Когда я буду в Москве, я позвоню его сестре. - Dative
В течение этого времени я думал о моём друге Владимире. - Prepositional

1. Possessive must agree in gender, number and case with the noun they modify (the thing possessed). Thus, for example, “my sister” will be "моя сестра" whether the speaker (“I”) is masculine or feminine.
2. Note, however, that the possessives that correspond to the third person personal pronouns (singular and plural) are unchanging in form. Corresponding to both он and оно is его (“his, its”); corresponding to она is её (“her, hers, its”); and corresponding to они is их (“their, theirs”).

Thank you for your response. The bold type in Part 2 of your answer explains the problem well

Met a word "повод" in the Interns.
Bykov stayed at Kupitman's for a night and they discuss it the next morning:

- Когда просыпаешься и видишь перед глазами задницу венеролога, невольно начинаешь предполагать, что и весь день так пройдет.
- Я не заставлял тебя спать с собой. Предлагал тебе на кухню уйти. Почему не пошел?
- Ну, просто, я хотел поспать с тобой, мечтал.
- Значит футбол - всего лишь повод?
- Конечно, футбол всего лишь повод. А так я был нацелен на твой диван. На это маленькое, пружинистое чудо.

Причина - повод.