Breakdown of Она забрала документы у администратора и сразу отдала их начальнице.
и
and
она
she
у
from
документ
the document
Questions & Answers about Она забрала документы у администратора и сразу отдала их начальнице.
Why do забрала and отдала end in -а?
Because the subject is она (she), and both verbs are in the past tense feminine singular.
In Russian past tense, the verb agrees with the subject in gender and number:
- он забрал = he took
- она забрала = she took
- оно забрало = it took
- они забрали = they took
The same pattern applies to отдал / отдала / отдало / отдали.
So:
- Она забрала = she took / picked up
- Она отдала = she gave / handed over
What is the difference between забрала and взяла? Why use забрала here?
Both can often be translated as took, but забрать usually has the idea of taking something away, picking it up, or collecting it from somewhere or someone.
So:
- взяла документы = took the documents
- забрала документы = took the documents away / picked up the documents
In this sentence, забрала fits well because she receives or collects the documents from the administrator and then passes them on.
Why is it and not some other form?