Я объяснил им правило.

I explained the rule to them.

Breakdown of Я объяснил им правило.

• я: I
• объяснить: to explain
• правило: the rule
• им: them

Questions & Answers about Я объяснил им правило.

What does им mean here, and which case is it?

Им means “to them” in this sentence. It is the dative plural form of the pronoun они (they).

Russian uses the dative case to mark the indirect object (the person who receives something, or who benefits from the action). So:

• Я объяснил им правило. = I explained the rule *to them.
  
  • *
  я – I (subject, nominative)
  - объяснил – explained (verb)
  - им – to them (indirect object, dative plural)
  - правило – the rule (direct object, accusative)

Why is there no word for “to” before им, like in English “to them”?

Russian usually does not use a separate word like “to” for indirect objects.
Instead, it changes the form of the noun or pronoun using the dative case.

English: to them
Russian: им (dative plural of они)

So the meaning “to” is built into the ending/form of the word:

• им = (to) them
• ему = (to) him
• ей = (to) her
• нам = (to) us
• вам = (to) you (plural/polite)

Why is правило in this form? Which case is it?

Правило is in the accusative case, because it is the direct object of the verb (what was explained).

For neuter inanimate nouns like правило, the accusative singular looks exactly the same as the nominative singular:

• Nominative (dictionary form): правило – rule
• Accusative: правило – rule (as direct object)

So the form itself doesn’t change, but in the sentence its function is accusative:
объяснить (что?) правило – explain (what?) the rule.

How can I tell that the subject “I” is masculine from объяснил?

The verb объяснил is the past tense, masculine singular form of объяснить (to explain).

Past tense in Russian agrees with the gender and number of the subject:

• я объяснил – I explained (said by a man)
• я объяснила – I explained (said by a woman)
• мы/они объяснили – we/they explained (plural)
• он объяснил – he explained
• она объяснила – she explained
• оно объяснило – it explained (rare, mostly for grammatical neuter subjects)

So from объяснил alone, we can tell the speaker is masculine and singular.

What’s the difference between объяснил and объяснял?

Both are past tense of “to explain,” but they differ by aspect:

• объяснил – perfective (completed action)

  • Emphasis: the explanation is finished and has a result.
  • Я объяснил им правило. – I explained the rule to them (and now they have been given the explanation).

• объяснял – imperfective (ongoing / repeated / process)

  • Emphasis: the process of explaining, not necessarily the result.
  • Я объяснял им правило. – I was explaining the rule to them / I used to explain the rule to them.

In this sentence, объяснил suggests a single, completed act of explaining.

Can I change the word order? For example: Я им объяснил правило or Правило я объяснил им?

Yes, Russian word order is flexible, but different orders change the emphasis:

1. Я объяснил им правило.

   • Neutral, common order: Subject – Verb – Indirect Object – Direct Object.
   • Slight focus on правило (the rule as the new piece of information).

2. Я им объяснил правило.

   • Slightly stronger focus on им (to them, as opposed to someone else).

3. Я объяснил правило им.

   • Feels a bit marked; can emphasize contrast: “I explained the rule to them (not to others).”

4. Правило я объяснил им.

   • Strong emphasis on правило (“As for the rule, I explained it to them”).

All are grammatically correct; context determines which is more natural.

What is the difference between им and их?

Both come from они (they), but they are different cases:

• им – dative plural: (to) them

  • Я объяснил им правило. – I explained the rule to them.

• их – genitive or accusative plural: them / of them / their

  • Я видел их. – I saw them. (accusative)
  • Я не знаю их имён. – I don’t know their names. (genitive: “of them”)

In this sentence we need “to them”, so the correct form is им, not их.

Could I leave out я and just say Объяснил им правило?

Yes, you can. Russian often drops subject pronouns when the subject is clear from context or from the verb form.

• Объяснил им правило. – (I/he) explained the rule to them.

However, without я, the form объяснил only tells us masculine singular, not who it is exactly. Context must make it clear whether it’s “I,” “he,” or a masculine noun that was mentioned earlier.

If you want to be explicit and unambiguous, especially in simple learner sentences, keep я.

How would I say “I explained the rule to him / to her / to you / to us” using this pattern?

Use the same structure Я объяснил(а) [кому?] правило, changing only the dative pronoun:

• I (male) explained the rule to him.
  Я объяснил ему правило.

• I (female) explained the rule to him.
  Я объяснила ему правило.

• …to her – ей
  Я объяснил(а) ей правило.

• …to you (informal singular) – тебе
  Я объяснил(а) тебе правило.

• …to you (plural / polite) – вам
  Я объяснил(а) вам правило.

• …to us – нам
  Я объяснил(а) нам правило.

Pattern: Я объяснил(а) [dative pronoun] правило.

Can объяснить take a clause, like “I explained that the rule is important”?

Yes. After объяснить, you can have either:

1. A noun phrase (what you explained):

   • Я объяснил им правило. – I explained the rule to them.

2. A clause with “что” (that):

   • Я объяснил им, что это правило важно.
     – I explained to them that this rule is important.

3. Both a noun and a clause:

   • Я объяснил им правило и то, почему оно важно.
     – I explained the rule to them and why it is important.

So объяснить behaves similarly to English “explain” in this sense.

Can I say Я объяснил их правило? Does that mean “I explained their rule”?

Yes, but it has a different meaning and a different structure:

• Я объяснил им правило.
  – I explained the rule to them.
  им is dative (to them).

• Я объяснил их правило.
  – I explained their rule.
  их is a possessive pronoun (their), modifying правило.

In Я объяснил их правило, there is no indirect object; you’re saying that the rule belongs to them. If you mean “I explained the rule to them,” you must use им, not их.