Learn Hardcore Russian: Учитель дал нам дополнительное задание. - The teacher gave us an additional assignment.

Учитель is in the nominative singular masculine. In Russian, the nominative marks the subject of the sentence—the person or thing performing the action “gave.”

What is the case and function of нам in this sentence?

Нам is the dative plural form of мы (“we”). The dative case marks the indirect object—the recipient of the action. Here it answers “to whom?” (to us).

What is the case, gender, and function of дополнительное задание?

Дополнительное задание is a neuter singular noun phrase in the accusative case, functioning as the direct object (“what was given”). In Russian, neuter nouns ending in -ие have the same form in nominative and accusative.

What tense and aspect is the verb дал, and why is it used instead of давал?

Дал is the past tense of the perfective verb дать (“to give”). Perfective aspect indicates a completed, one-time action (“gave it once”). Давал (imperfective) would imply a habitual or ongoing past action (“was giving”).

Why does the verb дать take нам in the dative case?

Verbs of giving in Russian typically have two objects: a direct object (what is given, here задание) in the accusative, and an indirect object (to whom it is given, here нам) in the dative. This parallels English “give something to someone,” but in Russian you drop “to” and mark the recipient with dative.

What is the nuance between дополнительное задание and домашнее задание?

Домашнее задание is “homework” (assigned to do at home, usually regular coursework). Дополнительное задание is “an extra/additional assignment” beyond the regular load—often optional or intended to provide more practice.

Can I change the word order, for example to Нам учитель дал дополнительное задание? Does it change the meaning?

Yes. Russian has flexible word order due to case marking.

Учитель дал нам дополнительное задание is neutral.
Нам учитель дал дополнительное задание places slight emphasis on нам (“It was to us that the teacher gave an extra assignment”).
The basic meaning stays the same; only the focus shifts.

Where is the stress in дополнительное, and how is it pronounced?

The stress falls on the о in the third syllable: до-пол-ни́-тель-ное. Phonetically: [dəpəlˈnʲitʲɪlʲnəjə]. Each vowel is clearly pronounced; the -ое ending is [nəjə], not [naje].