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Из‑за лени я иногда забываю повторять новые слова.

Из‑за лени я иногда забываю повторять новые слова.
Because of laziness, I sometimes forget to review new words.

Breakdown of Из‑за лени я иногда забываю повторять новые слова.

я
I
новый
new
слово
the word
иногда
sometimes
забывать
to forget
из-за
because of
повторять
to review
лень
laziness / being too lazy
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Questions & Answers about Из‑за лени я иногда забываю повторять новые слова.

Why is из‑за written with a hyphen, and what does it mean grammatically?

Из‑за is a fixed preposition meaning because of / due to (often with a slightly negative “it’s someone’s/something’s fault” nuance). It’s traditionally written with a hyphen as one unit: из‑за. It governs the genitive case.

Why is it из‑за лени and not из‑за лень?

Because из‑за requires the genitive.

  • Nominative: лень
  • Genitive: лени
    So из‑за лени = because of laziness.
Is из‑за the same as из-за того что or потому что?

They’re related but not identical:

  • из‑за + Genitive (noun/pronoun): because of a thing/state: из‑за лени, из‑за дождя. Often sounds like a cause you “blame.”
  • из‑за того, что + clause: because of the fact that … (links to a full clause).
  • потому что + clause: neutral because … with a clause.

In this sentence, you’re naming a cause as a noun (лень), so из‑за лени is the natural fit.

Why is я included? Could it be omitted?

Russian often drops subject pronouns because the verb ending shows the person:

  • (Я) забываю already implies I (ending -ю = 1st person singular). Including я adds emphasis or clarity, but it’s optional here.
What tense is забываю? Is it “present” or “future”?

Забываю is present tense of the imperfective verb забывать:

  • я забываю = I forget / I am forgetting / I tend to forget (habitual or repeated). For a one-time completed event, you’d typically use perfective past: я забыл(а) = I forgot (once).
Why is the verb забывать imperfective here, not забыть?

Because иногда (“sometimes”) describes a repeated/habitual situation, so Russian normally uses the imperfective:

  • иногда забываю = I sometimes forget (habit) Using забыть would point more to a single completed act (and would need a different form, e.g., иногда забуду can occur, but it tends to sound like “sometimes I will forget” in specific contexts, or as a general prediction).
Why do we have забываю + infinitive (повторять) instead of a noun or something else?

With verbs like забывать/забыть (“to forget”), Russian commonly uses an infinitive to express “forget to do something”:

  • забываю повторять = I forget to review/repeat You can also use про + accusative with a noun/pronoun to mean “forget about”:
  • забываю про новые слова = I forget about the new words But that’s a different meaning than forgetting to perform an action.
Why is повторять imperfective? Could it be повторить?

Повторять (imperfective) fits a habitual, ongoing routine: to review/repeat (regularly).
Повторить (perfective) would mean to repeat/review once (complete one repetition). Compare:

  • иногда забываю повторять новые слова = I sometimes fail to do my regular reviewing.
  • иногда забываю повторить новые слова = I sometimes forget to do one specific review/repetition (e.g., today’s set).

Both can be possible, but повторять is the default for a repeated study habit.

Why is it новые слова—what case is that?

Новые слова is accusative plural (direct object of повторять).
For inanimate nouns like слова, the accusative plural equals the nominative plural:

  • Nominative plural: слова
  • Accusative plural: слова
    And the adjective agrees: новые (plural).
What does the word order do here? Could I rearrange it?

Russian word order is flexible; it mainly changes emphasis.

  • Из‑за лени я иногда забываю повторять новые слова. (neutral, clear cause first) Possible variants:
  • Я иногда из‑за лени забываю повторять новые слова. (focus more on “I sometimes…”)
  • Новые слова я иногда забываю повторять из‑за лени. (puts “new words” in focus) The meaning stays basically the same; the “highlighted” part shifts.
How is из‑за лени pronounced, and where is the stress?
  • из‑за: usually pronounced together, roughly iz-ZA (stress on за).
  • лени: stress on the first syllable: LÉ-ni (ле́ни).