Word
После похвалы он улыбнулся, но всё равно выглядел смущённым.
Meaning
After the praise he smiled, but still looked embarrassed.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of После похвалы он улыбнулся, но всё равно выглядел смущённым.
но
but
он
he
улыбнуться
to smile
после
after
Questions & Answers about После похвалы он улыбнулся, но всё равно выглядел смущённым.
Why is похвалы in the genitive case?
Because the preposition после always takes the genitive when it means after.
- Dictionary form: похвала = praise
- After после: после похвалы = after the praise
So this is a normal preposition + case pattern that you simply learn together:
- после урока = after the lesson
- после работы = after work
- после похвалы = after the praise
What exactly does похвала mean?
Похвала means praise or words of approval.
In this sentence, после похвалы means something like after being praised or after the praise.
It is a noun, not a verb. So instead of saying after someone praised him, Russian here uses a noun phrase:
- после похвалы = after the praise
A more explicit version could be:
- после того как его похвалили = after they praised him
But the original sentence is shorter and very natural.
Why is the verb улыбнулся used, and what does the -ся mean?