Learn Hardcore Russian: В моменты отчаяния мне помогает простой вывод: всё-таки многие проблемы временные. - In moments of despair a simple conclusion helps me: after all, many problems are temporary.

With в + accusative plural of a countable time noun, Russian often means “during such moments (whenever they occur)” rather than “inside a specific, concrete place/time.”

В моменты отчаяния ≈ “in moments of despair / at times of despair (whenever they come).”
В моментах отчаяния would sound strange here; в + prepositional with момент is more spatial/literal (“in the moment itself”) and is used much less often.

Other similar patterns:

В трудные минуты мне помогали друзья. – “In difficult moments my friends helped me.”
В тяжёлые времена – “In hard times.”

Why is it отчаяния after моменты, and what case is that?

Отчаяния is genitive singular of отчаяние (“despair”).

This is a very common “X of Y” pattern:

моменты чего? отчаяния – “moments of despair”
Compare: чувство радости (“a feeling of joy”), минуты тишины (“minutes of silence”).

So the structure is:

моменты – nominative/accusative plural (head noun)
отчаяния – genitive singular (describes what kind of moments: “moments of despair”)

Why is it мне помогает, not меня помогает?

The verb помогать / помочь (“to help”) in Russian takes the dative for the person who receives help.

помогать кому? – “to help whom?” (in Russian grammar: “to which person?” → dative)
мне = “to me” (dative)
меня = “me” in accusative or genitive, which is wrong here.

So:

Эта мысль мне помогает. – “This thought helps me.”
Literal structure: “This thought is-helping to me.”

Saying меня помогает is ungrammatical.

What is the subject in мне помогает простой вывод? Why is the word order like that?

Grammatically, the subject is простой вывод (“a simple conclusion”).

Word-by-word:

простой вывод – nominative singular masculine (subject)
помогает – 3rd person singular (“helps”)
мне – dative (“to me”)

So the “basic order” is:

Простой вывод мне помогает.

But Russian allows flexible word order. Мне помогает простой вывод puts мне first for emphasis (“as for me, what helps is a simple conclusion”). The meaning doesn’t change; it’s a nuance of emphasis and rhythm.

What does простой вывод mean here? Is it “simple output” like in English?

Here вывод means “conclusion, deduction, takeaway”, not “output” in a technical sense.

простой вывод = “a simple conclusion” / “simple realization”

Typical uses:

Сделать вывод – “to draw a conclusion”
Мой вывод такой: ... – “My conclusion is this: ...”

So простой вывод here is “a simple thought/conclusion that I come back to,” which emotionally supports the speaker.

Why is there a colon after простой вывод?

The colon introduces the content of the conclusion:

мне помогает простой вывод: всё-таки многие проблемы временные.
→ “a simple conclusion helps me: [namely that] many problems are, after all, temporary.”

In Russian, a colon is used:

when the second part explains, reveals, or specifies the first;
especially after nouns like вывод, мысль, идея, правило when you then give that idea in full.

You could also sometimes use a dash (–) in informal writing, but the colon is very standard and neutral here.

What does всё-таки mean here, and why is it in that position?

Всё-таки is a modal particle meaning something like “after all, in the end, ultimately, nevertheless.” It adds a sense of:

concession (“despite everything, nevertheless”),
or a reassuring reminder (“when you think about it, after all…”).

In всё-таки многие проблемы временные, it suggests: > “When all is said and done, many problems are temporary.”

Placement:

Very commonly before the word or phrase it modifies:
- Всё-таки многие проблемы временные.
- Многие проблемы всё-таки временные. (also possible; slightly different emphasis)

Here it naturally goes near многие проблемы; the chosen position is very typical.

In многие проблемы временные, why is there no verb like есть or бывают? Isn’t it “many problems are temporary”?

In the present tense, Russian normally omits the verb “to be” (есть) in sentences of the type “X is Y.”

So:

English: “Many problems are temporary.”
Russian: Многие проблемы временные.
(literally: “Many problems temporary.”)

In past and future, the verb appears:

Многие проблемы были временными. – “Many problems were temporary.”
Многие проблемы будут временными. – “Many problems will be temporary.”

So the missing “are” is simply standard Russian grammar.

What is the difference between многие проблемы and много проблем?

Both involve “many/a lot of problems,” but they’re used differently.

Многие проблемы
- многие = “many (of them), a large proportion of some known group.”
- Noun is in nominative plural: проблемы.
- Often used when we’re talking about a set and we’re saying that “many of those” have some property.
- Here: Многие проблемы временные. – “Many problems (of the problems we have) are temporary.”
Много проблем
- много = “a lot of / much,” behaves like a quantity word.
- Noun is in genitive plural: проблем.
- It’s more about quantity, not about “many of a known group.”
- Example: У меня много проблем. – “I have a lot of problems.”

You cannot say *много проблем временные with this structure; the grammar doesn’t work, because много проблем is not nominative.

What case and gender are многие проблемы and временные in, and how do they agree?

проблемы – nominative plural, feminine (from проблема).
многие – nominative plural, matching the noun in number (and “common plural” gender).
временные – nominative plural, matching проблемы.

So the agreement is:

многие (pl.) + проблемы (fem. pl.) + временные (pl.)

The pattern is: subject (многие проблемы) + predicate adjective (временные).

What is the difference between многие проблемы временные and временные проблемы?

They are different structures:

Многие проблемы временные.
- Full sentence: subject + predicate.
- Means: “Many problems are temporary.”
- временные is a predicate adjective (saying what the problems are).
временные проблемы
- Just a noun phrase: adjective + noun.
- Means: “temporary problems.”
- временные is an attributive adjective that directly describes the noun.

So in the original sentence you need the full statement “many problems are temporary,” not just “temporary problems.”

Could you also say в моменты отчаяния мне помогает мысль, что… instead of простой вывод?

Yes, that would be perfectly natural and very close in meaning:

В моменты отчаяния мне помогает мысль, что многие проблемы временные.

Nuance:

простой вывод – emphasizes that it’s something you’ve concluded / figured out logically or through reflection.
мысль – neutral “thought.”

Both sound normal; the original chooses вывод to underline the idea of a clear, rational conclusion that you return to.

How do you pronounce отчаяния, всё-таки, and временные?

Approximate pronunciation with stressed syllables in bold:

отчАяния → [ат-ча-я-ни-я]
Stress on ча (same as in отчАяние).
всё́-таки (more often written without the stress mark as всё-таки) → [всё-та-ки]
Stress on the first syllable всё.
вре́менные → [вре-мен-ные]
Stress on вре (same as in вре́мя, “time”).