Breakdown of Вопреки ожиданиям, опенспейс оказался тихим.
тихий
quiet
оказаться
to turn out
вопреки
contrary to
ожидание
the expectation
Questions & Answers about Вопреки ожиданиям, опенспейс оказался тихим.
What does вопреки mean here, and what case does it take?
Вопреки means contrary to, despite, or against in the sense of going against what was expected.
A very important grammar point: вопреки requires the dative case.
So:
- ожидания = expectations
- ожиданиям = to expectations / contrary to expectations
That is why the sentence begins with Вопреки ожиданиям.
Why is it ожиданиям and not ожидания?
Because вопреки governs the dative, and ожиданиям is the dative plural form of ожидание.
Case breakdown:
- nominative plural: ожидания
- dative plural: ожиданиям
So the phrase literally works like:
- вопреки ожиданиям = contrary to expectations
This is a very common fixed pattern in Russian.
Why is ожиданиям plural? Could Russian use the singular here?