Learn Hardcore Russian: Учитель помогает группе решить конфликт спокойно. - The teacher helps the group resolve the conflict calmly.

помогать кому? – to help whom? → dative
- помочь ученику (to help the student)
- помочь детям (to help the children)
- помочь группе (to help the group)

So группе here means “to the group”. There is no preposition “to” in Russian; the dative ending -е on группа → группе plays that role.

Why is there no word like “to” before решить? In English we say “help the group to resolve”.

In Russian, when помогать / помочь is followed by another verb, that second verb is put in the infinitive form, without any extra word like “to” or чтобы:

помогать (кому?) сделать (что?)
- помочь ему понять задание – to help him (to) understand the task
- помочь другу найти работу – to help a friend (to) find a job
- помогает группе решить конфликт – helps the group (to) resolve the conflict

So the structure is:

помогает (helps) + группе (the group, in dative) + решить (to resolve, infinitive).

Why is решить (perfective) used instead of решать (imperfective)?

The choice between решить and решать is about aspect:

решать – imperfective: to be solving / to solve in general, process, repeated action.
решить – perfective: to solve/resolve once, with focus on the result.

In решить конфликт, the speaker is focusing on getting the conflict resolved, i.e. the outcome, not on the process of working on it. That’s why решить (perfective) is natural here.

If you said:

Учитель помогает группе решать конфликт.

that would emphasize the ongoing process of working on the conflict, rather than bringing it to a clear resolution. It’s possible, but the nuance is different: more “helps them work through the conflict” than “helps them resolve it”.

What part of speech is спокойно, and why is it at the end of the sentence?

Спокойно is an adverb, roughly “calmly” or “in a calm way”.

In this sentence it describes how the conflict is resolved:

решить конфликт как? – спокойно

In Russian, adverbs of manner like спокойно, быстро, аккуратно often come at the end of the sentence, especially after the verb phrase they describe:

Он решает задачи быстро. – He solves problems quickly.
Мы обсудили всё подробно. – We discussed everything in detail.
Учитель помогает группе решить конфликт спокойно. – The teacher helps the group resolve the conflict calmly.

You can also move it earlier:

Учитель спокойно помогает группе решить конфликт.

Then спокойно sounds a bit more like it’s describing the teacher’s behavior (“The teacher calmly helps the group resolve the conflict”), rather than the way the conflict itself is resolved. Both are possible; the position slightly shifts the focus.

Why doesn’t Russian use words like “the” or “a” before учитель, группа, and конфликт?

Russian has no articles (no equivalents of a/an/the). Whether we translate учитель as “a teacher” or “the teacher” depends on context, not on a separate word.

In this sentence:

Учитель – could be “a teacher” or “the teacher”
группе – “a group” or “the group”
конфликт – “a conflict” or “the conflict”

Russian relies on context, word order, and sometimes additional words (like этот “this”, тот “that”, этот учитель “this/the teacher”) instead of articles.

Why is the verb помогает in the third person singular, not plural?

The subject of the sentence is учитель (teacher), which is singular, so the verb is also singular:

Учитель помогает… – The teacher helps…

The word группе is an indirect object (in the dative case: “to the group”), not the subject, so it does not control the verb form.

Compare:

Группа решает конфликт. – The group resolves the conflict.
(Here группа is the subject → verb is 3rd person singular: решает.)
Учитель помогает группе решить конфликт. – The teacher helps the group resolve the conflict.
(Here учитель is the subject → помогает is singular.)

Could we say “Учитель помогает группе в решении конфликта” instead? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can say:

Учитель помогает группе в решении конфликта.

This is grammatically correct, but the structure and nuance are different:

Original sentence:
- помогает группе решить конфликт
- Verb + dative + infinitive: helps (someone) to do (something).
- Very direct, dynamic: focuses on the act of resolving.
Alternative sentence:
- помогает группе в решении конфликта
- Literally: “helps the group in the resolution of the conflict.”
- More nominal (verb + noun phrase), a bit more formal or abstract.

In everyday speech, помогать кому-то сделать что-то (help someone do something) is more common and natural than помогать в решении чего-то in this context.

Can the word order be changed? For example: Учитель спокойно помогает группе решить конфликт?

Yes, Russian word order is flexible, and these variants are all possible:

Учитель помогает группе решить конфликт спокойно.
– Neutral; focus more on resolving the conflict calmly.
Учитель спокойно помогает группе решить конфликт.
– Emphasizes how the teacher acts: “The teacher calmly helps the group…”
Учитель помогает спокойно решить конфликт группе.
– Possible, but sounds less natural; the placement of группе at the end is unusual here.
Учитель помогает спокойно группе решить конфликт.
– Also possible, but slightly awkward stylistically.

The most natural forms for general use are:

Учитель помогает группе решить конфликт спокойно.
Учитель спокойно помогает группе решить конфликт.

The first highlights the manner of resolving, the second the manner of helping.

Why is it учитель and not учительница, if the teacher is female?

Grammatically, учитель is a masculine noun (“teacher”). The feminine form is учительница.

Usage:

учитель – teacher (traditionally male, but increasingly used as a neutral job title)
учительница – female teacher (colloquial/standard, especially in schools)

If the context clearly says the teacher is a woman, you might see:

Учительница помогает группе решить конфликт спокойно.

In many official or neutral styles, especially when the gender is irrelevant, Russian often uses the masculine form for professions (учитель, врач, профессор), even if the person is female. In everyday speech about a specific woman, учительница is very common.

Why is помогает used here instead of поможет?

помогает – imperfective, present tense: “is helping / helps”.
поможет – perfective, future: “will help”.

In the sentence:

Учитель помогает группе решить конфликт спокойно.

we are describing what is happening now (or a general habit): “The teacher helps the group resolve the conflict calmly.”

If you said:

Учитель поможет группе решить конфликт спокойно.

you would be talking about the future: “The teacher will help the group resolve the conflict calmly.”

So помогает fits when the action is ongoing or typical, not future or completed.

How do you pronounce and stress each word in this sentence?

Here’s the stress (marked with ´) and a rough pronunciation guide:

УчИтель – [oo-CHEE-tyel’] – stress on И
помогАет – [pa-ma-GAH-yet] – stress on А
грУппе – [GROOP-peh] – stress on У
решИть – [ree-SHEET’] – stress on И
конфлИкт – [kan-FLEEKT] – stress on И
спокОйно – [spa-KOY-na] – stress on ОЙ

So spoken naturally:

УчИтель помогАет грУппе решИть конфлИкт спокОйно.