Breakdown of Во время вебинара мне хочется задавать вопросы, если что‑то непонятно.
Questions & Answers about Во время вебинара мне хочется задавать вопросы, если что‑то непонятно.
Why is it во время + вебинара (genitive)? Can I say в время?
Во время is a fixed prepositional phrase meaning during and it requires the genitive case:
- во время (чего?) вебинара
You can’t say в время in this meaning. В- time words is used differently (e.g., в то время = at that time / while).
What case is вебинара and how do I know its ending?
Вебинар is a masculine noun, so the genitive singular is вебинара:
- nominative: вебинар
- genitive: вебинара
It follows the common pattern for many masculine nouns: -Ø → -а in the genitive singular.
Why does the sentence use мне хочется instead of я хочу? What’s the difference?
Мне хочется is an impersonal construction meaning something like I feel like / I have the urge. It’s less direct and more about an inner desire.
- я хочу = a straightforward, deliberate I want
- мне хочется = I feel like, often softer/more spontaneous
Grammatically, мне is dative because the “desire” is presented as happening to you:
- мне (кому?) хочется = to me it feels like (doing something)
Why is there an infinitive задавать after хочется?
After (мне) хочется, Russian typically uses the infinitive to express what you feel like doing:
- мне хочется + infinitive
So мне хочется задавать = I feel like asking (to ask repeatedly / in general).
You can also use a noun sometimes, but the infinitive is the most common pattern.
Why is it задавать вопросы and not спрашивать вопросы?
In Russian, the natural collocation is задавать вопросы (to pose/ask questions).
Спрашивать is used differently:
- спрашивать (что?) can mean to ask (a question), but more often you ask someone something:
- спрашивать преподавателя (to ask the teacher)
- спрашивать о чём‑то (to ask about something)
- спрашивать, где... (to ask where...)
So задавать вопросы is the standard “asking questions (as a set/regularly)” phrasing.
What does the imperfective задавать imply here? Could it be задать?
Задавать (imperfective) suggests a general, repeated, or ongoing action: asking questions during the webinar whenever needed.
Задать (perfective) would point to a single, completed act (or a limited set as a whole), for example:
- мне хочется задать вопрос = I feel like asking a question (one specific question)
Your sentence uses задавать вопросы because it’s about the general behavior during the webinar.
Why is there a comma before если?
Because если что‑то непонятно is a subordinate conditional clause (if something is unclear). In Russian, such clauses are normally separated by a comma:
- ..., если ...
What exactly is если что‑то непонятно grammatically? Where’s the verb?
It’s a common Russian pattern where the “verb to be” is omitted in the present tense.
- что‑то = something (pronoun)
- непонятно = short-form predicative meaning unclear / not understandable
So it’s equivalent to:
- если что‑то (есть) непонятно = if something is unclear
Why is что‑то written with a hyphen, and when is it used?
что‑то is a pronoun formed with the particle -то, which is written with a hyphen. It usually means something / somehow / some kind of, often implying “some unspecified thing”:
- что‑то непонятно = something is unclear
- кто‑то = someone
- где‑то = somewhere
It’s different from что-то? as two words (which would be unusual here); the hyphenated form is the standard pronoun.
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