Breakdown of Успешный проект помог команде.
помочь
to help
проект
the project
команда
the team
успешный
successful
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Questions & Answers about Успешный проект помог команде.
Why is успешный placed before проект rather than after it?
In Russian, adjectives normally precede the noun they modify. Placing успешный (successful) before проект (project) is the neutral, most common word order: успешный проект. You could put the adjective after for stylistic effect (e.g. проект успешный), but this sounds more poetic or emphatic.
What case is команде in, and how do you recognize that case?
Команде is in the dative case. You can recognize it by the ending –е on a first-declension feminine noun:
- Nominative (subject): команда
- Dative (indirect object, “to/for the team”): команде
The dative marks the beneficiary of the action (“help for the team”).
Why does the verb помог take a dative object instead of an accusative one?
Russian verbs of giving or helping—like помог(ать)/помочь—commonly pair with a dative object (the person who receives help). They are not transitive in the accusative sense. So you never say помог команду (“helped the team” in accusative); you always say помог команде.
Who is the subject of the sentence, and why is помог in the masculine form?
The subject is проект (project), which is masculine in Russian. The past-tense verb помог agrees in gender and number with the subject, not the object. Since проект is masculine singular, you use помог (masc. sing.). If the subject were feminine, you’d say помогла.
Can you change the word order without changing the meaning? For example, Команде помог успешный проект?
Yes. Russian has fairly free word order due to its case system. Команде помог успешный проект still means “A successful project helped the team.” Changing word order can shift which element is highlighted or emphasized, but the basic meaning remains the same as long as cases stay intact.
What does the ending –ый in успешный tell you about the adjective?
The –ый ending marks a masculine singular adjective in the nominative case. It matches проект, which is also masculine singular nominative. If the noun were feminine (e.g. операция, “operation”), you’d say успешная операция.
How would you say “A successful project helped me” in Russian?
You replace the dative команде with the dative pronoun мне (“to/for me”):
Успешный проект помог мне.
Where are the stress marks in успешный проект помог команде, and how would you pronounce it?
Stress falls on these syllables: успе́шный прое́кт помо́г кома́нде.
Pronunciation guide (rough):
[us-PYESH-nyi prah-YEKT pa-MOG kah-MAHN-deh]