Breakdown of Лечение было долгим и трудным, но я поправился.
я
I
быть
to be
и
and
но
but
долгий
long
поправиться
to recover
трудный
difficult
лечение
the treatment
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Questions & Answers about Лечение было долгим и трудным, но я поправился.
Why are the adjectives долгим and трудным in the instrumental case instead of the nominative?
In Russian, when you have a linking verb like был (past of “to be”) connecting a subject and an adjective or noun, the second part often takes the instrumental case to express a state or role. Here лечение is the subject and долгим/трудным are predicate adjectives describing it, so they appear in the instrumental (not nominative долгое/трудное).
What is the gender and form of the noun лечение, and how does that affect было?
Лечение is a neuter, singular noun (ends in -е). In the past tense, the verb быть must agree in gender and number with the subject: neuter singular → было. If лечение were masculine, we’d say был, or feminine была, plural были.
What does the suffix -ся do in the verb поправился?
The -ся ending makes the verb reflexive. Поправить means “to correct/adjust (something),” while поправиться means “to get better/recover (oneself).” It signals that the action happens to the subject.
Why is поправился used instead of the imperfective поправлялся?
Поправился is perfective, indicating the action is completed—“I recovered.” The imperfective поправлялся would imply an ongoing or repeated process (“I was in the process of getting better”), which doesn’t fit here because the sentence conveys a finished recovery.
Could we use выздоровел instead of поправился, and is there a nuance between them?
Yes, я выздоровел also means “I recovered.” Выздороветь often focuses on achieving full health from illness, while поправиться can also imply regaining strength or weight. In most contexts they’re interchangeable for “got better.”
Why is the pronoun я included? Can it be omitted?
Russian allows dropping pronouns because verb endings show person and number. You could say Лечение было долгим и трудным, но поправился, and it’d still be clear you’re talking about yourself. Including я adds emphasis or clarity, which learners often do.
What is the word order rule for но я поправился versus я поправился, но?
Russian is flexible with word order for emphasis. The standard “but” clause is но я поправился (conjunction + subject + verb). You could say я поправился, но лечение было долгим и трудным, flipping the clauses, but then the “but” contrasts the first clause. In your sentence, the main idea of recovery comes after the concessive phrase.
What exactly does трудный mean here, and how does it differ from тяжёлый?
Трудный means “difficult, requiring effort.” Тяжёлый means “heavy” or “hard” in the sense of burdensome or physically heavy. For an ordeal or period of treatment, трудный stresses the effort and hardship; тяжёлый would stress the heaviness or severity of the experience.
Where are the word stresses in the sentence?
Ле́чение бы́ло до́лгим и тру́дным, но я попра́вился.
(Stress on the first syllable of лечение, on было, on долгим, on трудным, and on the second syllable of поправился.)