Breakdown of Телефон мешает мне засыпать вечером.
телефон
the phone
мне
me
вечером
in the evening
засыпать
to fall asleep
Questions & Answers about Телефон мешает мне засыпать вечером.
Why is it мне and not меня after мешает?
The verb мешать in this meaning (“to bother, to disturb, to prevent”) takes the dative case for the person who is being disturbed.
- мне = to me (dative)
- меня = me (accusative/genitive)
So the pattern is:
- мешать + кому? + (делать что?)
- Телефон мешает мне засыпать. – The phone keeps me (from) falling asleep.
If you said Телефон мешает меня, that would be ungrammatical in this sense.
Why is the verb засыпать used here instead of спать?
- спать = to sleep (the state of being asleep)
- засыпать (here) = to fall asleep (the process of going from awake to asleep)
In this sentence, the idea is that the phone prevents the speaker from falling asleep, not from sleeping in general. So засыпать is the correct choice:
- Телефон мешает мне засыпать. – The phone keeps me from falling asleep.
- Телефон мешает мне спать. – The phone keeps me from sleeping (being asleep).
Both are possible, but they describe slightly different things.
Is засыпать here imperfective or perfective, and why?