Мы обсуждаем роман известного писателя в чате.

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Breakdown of Мы обсуждаем роман известного писателя в чате.

• мы: we
• писатель: the writer
• роман: the novel

Questions & Answers about Мы обсуждаем роман известного писателя в чате.

Why is роман in the accusative, and why does it look the same as the dictionary form?

Because обсуждать takes a direct object, and direct objects are usually in the accusative case.

Here, роман is a masculine inanimate noun. For masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative singular is the same as the nominative singular, so:

• nominative: роман
• accusative: роман

So the form does change grammatically, but it just happens to look identical.

Why is известного писателя in the genitive?

Because it means something like the novel of a famous writer or a novel by a famous writer.

The noun писатель depends on роман and shows relationship/possession, so Russian uses the genitive case:

• писатель → писателя

The adjective must agree with the noun it describes, so:

• известный писатель
• известного писателя

Both words are masculine singular genitive.

What case is в чате, and why?