Learn Hardcore Russian: Её супруг очень терпимый человек и часто ищет компромисс. - Her husband is a very tolerant person and often looks for a compromise.

«муж» is the most common, neutral everyday word for husband.
«супруг» is more formal, often used in:
- official speech (documents, announcements)
- polite, “elevated” style
- journalism and written language

The feminine forms are:

муж → жена (wife)
супруг → супруга (wife/spouse, formal)

So «Её супруг» could be translated as “Her husband” or “Her spouse,” with a slightly formal or careful tone.

What exactly is «её»? Why is it the same form in all situations?

«Её» is the possessive pronoun her (belonging to a female person).

Key points:

It does not change for case, number, or gender of the noun:
- её супруг – her husband
- её сумка – her bag
- я вижу её брата – I see her brother
- я говорю с её подругами – I talk with her (female) friends

In all these examples, «её» stays the same, even though the nouns are in different cases.

About spelling:

Correct spelling uses ё: её
In many printed texts, ё is written as е, so you may see ее супруг. Pronunciation is still [йе-ЙО].

Where is the verb “is” in the Russian part «Её супруг очень терпимый человек»?

In standard Russian, the verb “to be” in the present tense (is / am / are) is usually omitted in such sentences.

So:

Её супруг очень терпимый человек.
Literally: “Her husband very tolerant person.”
Meaning: “Her husband is a very tolerant person.”

You could theoretically say «Её супруг есть очень терпимый человек», but this sounds either archaic, overly emphatic, or odd in modern everyday language. Normally, you just leave out the present-tense есть.

What is the difference between «терпимый» and «терпеливый»? Could we use «терпеливый» here?

These two adjectives are related but not the same:

терпимый
- main meaning: tolerant, accepting of others, different opinions, behaviors, etc.
- also: bearable (e.g. терпимая боль – bearable pain)
- терпимый человек = a tolerant person, someone who is not judgmental, who accepts differences.
терпеливый
- main meaning: patient, able to wait calmly or endure difficulties without complaining.
- терпеливый человек = a patient person (e.g., good with children, doesn’t lose temper when waiting).

In this sentence:

«очень терпимый человек» = a very tolerant person (fits well with “often looks for a compromise”).
«очень терпеливый человек» would mean “a very patient person,” which is also possible, but shifts the emphasis from tolerance to patience.

Why do we say «терпимый человек» and not just «терпимый»?

Adding «человек» (person) makes the phrase sound more natural and complete in this kind of description:

Он очень терпимый человек. – He is a very tolerant person.

You could say:

Её супруг очень терпимый.

This is grammatically correct, but:

it sounds a bit shorter, more “bare,” slightly more colloquial or context-dependent.
In many descriptive sentences, Russian likes using [adjective + человек] to clearly say “a ... person”.

So both are possible; «терпимый человек» just feels a bit more standard and explicit.

Could we write «Её супруг — очень терпимый человек» with a dash? Is that correct?

Yes, you can write:

Её супруг — очень терпимый человек и часто ищет компромисс.

About the dash —:

Russian often uses a dash between two noun phrases (or a noun + “человек”) when they are in a “X is Y” relationship:
- Он — врач. – He is a doctor.
- Моя сестра — учитель. – My sister is a teacher.

In «Её супруг очень терпимый человек»:

A dash is optional. Without the dash, it’s still correct.
With the dash, you slightly emphasize the identification: “Her husband is a very tolerant person.”

So both versions are fine:

Её супруг очень терпимый человек…
Её супруг — очень терпимый человек…

What verb is «ищет», and how is it conjugated? Why use искать here?

«Ищет» is the 3rd person singular form of the verb искать – to look for, to seek.

Present tense of искать:

я ищу – I look for
ты ищешь – you (sg.) look for
он/она/оно ищет – he/she/it looks for
мы ищем – we look for
вы ищете – you (pl./formal) look for
они ищут – they look for

So «(Он) часто ищет компромисс» = “He often looks for a compromise.”

Why искать and not находить (“to find”)?

искать describes the process/effort of looking for a compromise.
находить компромисс would emphasize that he finds (achieves) a compromise. Here, the idea is about his tendency or approach (he tries to find compromises), so искать matches better.

Why is «компромисс» in this form? What case is it, and why no preposition?

In «ищет компромисс», the word «компромисс» is:

masculine, inanimate noun
in the accusative singular, which for inanimate masculine nouns looks the same as nominative singular:
- nominative: компромисс
- accusative: (он ищет) компромисс

The verb искать takes a direct object in the accusative case without a preposition:

искать работу – to look for a job
искать ключи – to look for keys
искать правду – to look for the truth
искать компромисс – to look for a compromise

That’s why there is no preposition (like “for” in English); the relationship is expressed purely by the case.

Why is there no comma before «и часто ищет компромисс»?

The structure is:

Subject: Её супруг
Predicate 1: (есть) очень терпимый человек (is a very tolerant person)
Predicate 2: часто ищет компромисс (often looks for a compromise)

These two predicates share the same subject and are joined by «и».

In Russian, homogeneous predicates (two parts of what the subject “is/does”) connected by «и» usually do not require a comma:

Он хороший врач и много работает.
(He is a good doctor and works a lot.)
Эта книга интересная и хорошо написана.
(This book is interesting and well written.)

Our sentence follows the same pattern, so no comma is needed before «и часто ищет компромисс».

Can «часто» go in a different place, like «ищет часто компромисс»? Does the position change the meaning?

In this sentence, the natural and most common position is:

Он часто ищет компромисс. – He often looks for a compromise.

You might see variations like:

Он ищет компромисс довольно часто. – He looks for a compromise quite often.

Putting «часто» directly after the verb («ищет часто компромисс») is not typical and usually sounds unnatural in modern standard Russian.

General rule of thumb:

Place frequency adverbs like часто, редко, обычно just before the verb:
- часто говорит
- редко приходит
- обычно читает вечером

So «часто ищет компромисс» is the best choice here.

Why don’t we repeat the pronoun «он» before «часто ищет компромисс»?

We could say:

Её супруг очень терпимый человек и он часто ищет компромисс.

This is grammatically correct and clear.

However, Russian often omits subject pronouns when the subject is obvious from context, especially inside one sentence where the subject has just been mentioned:

Её сын умный и хорошо учится.
(Her son is smart and studies well.)
Наш директор строгий, но умеет слушать.
(Our director is strict but knows how to listen.)

So:

Её супруг очень терпимый человек и часто ищет компромисс.
= “Her husband is a very tolerant person and often looks for a compromise.”

The subject «он» is understood from «Её супруг», so it is not necessary to repeat it.