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Breakdown of Эта статья довольно длинная, но я прочитал её почти до конца.
я
I
длинный
long
но
but
прочитать
to read
до
to
эта
this
конец
the end
статья
the article
довольно
quite
её
it
почти
almost
Questions & Answers about Эта статья довольно длинная, но я прочитал её почти до конца.
Why does the adjective длинная end in -ая here?
Because длинная is modifying статья, which is a feminine noun in the nominative case. In Russian, adjectives agree in gender, number, and case with the nouns they describe. Since статья is feminine singular nominative, the adjective also takes the feminine singular nominative ending -ая.
What’s the nuance of using довольно instead of очень?
Довольно translates roughly as “quite,” “fairly,” or “pretty” in English. It indicates a moderate degree, less strong than очень (“very”). So довольно длинная means “quite long” (implying it’s long enough to be noticeable), whereas очень длинная would be more emphatic: “very long.”
Why is the verb прочитал used instead of читал?
Russian has two aspects for past actions: imperfective (читал) and perfective (прочитал).
- Читал (imperfective) would mean “I was reading it” or “I read it (habitually).”
- Прочитал (perfective) means “I finished reading it.”
Here the speaker suggests they got almost to the end, so they use the perfective прочитал to show a completed action (even if not 100% complete).
What is the function of её in я прочитал её?
Её is a feminine singular pronoun in the accusative case, meaning “it” (referring back to статья). In Russian, direct objects take the accusative case, and for a feminine noun like статья, the accusative form of она is её.
Why is конца in the genitive case in почти до конца?
The preposition до (“to,” “until”) always takes the genitive case. Therefore конец (end) becomes конца (genitive singular) after до, giving “up to the end,” and with почти (“almost”) it yields “almost up to the end.”
What exactly does почти до конца mean?
Literally “almost to the end.” It expresses that the speaker read nearly all of the article but didn’t fully finish it. In English you’d say “I read it almost to the end.”
Why is there a comma before но?
In Russian, when you link two independent clauses with a coordinating conjunction like но (“but”), you place a comma before the conjunction. Here you have:
Clause 1: Эта статья довольно длинная
Clause 2: я прочитал её почти до конца
They’re joined by но, so a comma is required.
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