Услышав мелодию, музыкант улыбнулся и начал играть.

Hearing the melody, the musician smiled and began to play.

Breakdown of Услышав мелодию, музыкант улыбнулся и начал играть.

• и: and
• улыбнуться: to smile
• играть: to play
• музыкант: the musician
• услышать: to hear
• мелодия: the melody
• начать: to begin

Questions & Answers about Услышав мелодию, музыкант улыбнулся и начал играть.

What is the function of the phrase Услышав мелодию in the sentence?

It is a de‑participle phrase (деепричастный оборот) that describes an action preceding the main actions. In English, it translates to “having heard the melody”, setting the background context for what happens next.

Why is there a comma after Услышав мелодию?

Russian punctuation rules require that introductory de‑participle phrases be separated from the main clause by a comma. This helps clarify that the action of hearing the melody occurred before the main actions of the musician.

What grammatical case is мелодию in, and why is that case used here?

Мелодию is in the accusative case. It serves as the direct object of the implied verb услышать (to hear) within the de‑participle phrase, indicating what was heard.

How are улыбнулся and начал играть connected, and what does that tell us about the subject?

The verbs are connected by the conjunction и, forming a compound predicate that describes two sequential actions performed by the same subject (музыкант). This shows that after hearing the melody and smiling, the musician then started playing.

What does the structure начал играть tell us about the action, and why is the infinitive играть used after начал?

Начал is the past tense form of the perfective verb начать (to start), and it is followed by the infinitive играть (to play). Together, they indicate the initiation of a new ongoing activity—the musician began playing immediately after his reaction to the melody.

How does the de‑participle phrase affect the overall interpretation of the sequence of events described in the sentence?

By placing Услышав мелодию at the beginning, the sentence emphasizes that the act of hearing the melody happened first and set the stage for the subsequent actions (smiling and playing). This ordering underlines a natural progression of cause and effect, where one event leads to another.