Question
I’m reading a Dual Language book in which the English translation of the Russian is “I was recently surprised by this simple thought”. The original Russian is “Я недавно понял и удивился этой простой мысли”. The thing that confuses me is that I would have expected the word “thought” to be in the instrumental case but as I understand it the instrumental singular ending for feminine words ending in the soft sign is мыслью. Could someone tell me what case мысли is in and why?
Thank you
Answer
Hi George,
The verb удивиться is followed by the Dative case, удивиться чему? I think the fact that confuses you is that in English the construction is "to be surprised by", so you think it is a passive construction in Russian, followed by the Instrumental case.
Я удивился его поведению. I was surprised by his behaviour.
More questions like this one
- Russian verb for "give place to"
- Russian words конь and лошадь
- Feminine Endings for Adjectives whose Masculine Nominative ends in ий
- Accusative case with inanimate nouns in the plural
- У тебя есть c cобой деньги? - Why can't we use “с тобой” instead of "с собой"?
- Russian Words Borrowed in English
- Жизнь в нас самих, English translation
- What are the 11 types of verb conjugation in Russian?
- Russian Imperfective Imperative
- Difference between учить, выучить, научить, учиться
Do you have questions yourself? Ask us and we will be happy to help you!
Ask your question