Questions & Answers about Интерьер новой квартиры меня очень радует.
What is the structure of the sentence, and how does it differ from typical English word order?
In this sentence, the thing that gives pleasure—the интерьер новой квартиры (“interior of the new apartment”)—acts as the grammatical subject. The person experiencing the pleasure, expressed as меня (“me”), appears as the direct object. In English, we might say “I really love the interior of my new apartment,” which puts the experiencer first. In Russian, however, verbs like радовать are structured so that what pleases you is the subject, and you (the one pleased) become the object.
Why is меня in the accusative case even though it represents the person feeling the emotion?
Russian uses the verb радовать in a way that the object (the person experiencing the feeling) is put into the accusative case. Although in English we naturally think of “I” as the subject feeling glad, the Russian construction emphasizes the thing causing the emotion. Therefore, меня (“me”) is in the accusative as it is the direct object of радовать.
What is the role of the phrase новой квартиры, and why is it in the genitive case?
The phrase новой квартиры acts as a modifier of интерьер, specifying whose interior we’re talking about—namely, that of the new apartment. In Russian, when showing possession or a descriptive relationship similar to “of the new apartment,” the noun квартира takes the genitive case. The adjective новой is also in the genitive feminine singular to agree with квартиры.
How does differ from , and why is the former used here?