Questions & Answers about Я прочитал часть книги утром.
Why is it "прочитал" instead of "читал"? What does the perfective mean here?
прочитал is perfective: you completed the action and achieved a result (you finished reading some portion). читал (imperfective) would focus on the process or a habitual action, without implying completion: Я читал часть книги утром = I was reading part of the book in the morning / I read part of the book in the morning (as an activity).
How would a woman say this? What about other persons and plural?
Past tense agrees with gender/number:
- I (male): Я прочитал; I (female): Я прочитала.
- You (informal, male/female): Ты прочитал/прочитала.
- He/She/It: Он прочитал / Она прочитала / Оно прочитало.
- We/You(pl)/They: Мы/Вы/Они прочитали.
Why is it часть книги and not something else? What case is книги?
часть “part” governs the genitive case of the whole: часть книги = “part of the book.” This is the “genitive of the whole/partitive.” Examples: часть фильма, часть города, часть пути.
Why часть, not части? Which case is часть in?