Я объяснил им правило.

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Breakdown of Я объяснил им правило.

• 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?