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Questions & Answers about Прости меня, пожалуйста.
What exactly is прости grammatically?
Прости is the imperative singular form of the verb простить, which means to forgive.
So in this sentence, прости means forgive! when speaking to one person in an informal way.
Related forms:
- простить = the dictionary form, to forgive
- прости = forgive! (informal, to one person)
- простите = forgive! (formal, or to more than one person)
Why is it меня and not я?
Because меня is the form of я used when it is the object of the verb.
In English, compare:
- I forgive
- forgive me
Russian works similarly:
- я = I
- меня = me
Since the sentence means forgive me, Russian uses меня, not я.
Why is меня in this case?