Breakdown of Новая грамматическая тема: конструкция «не успел ... как ...» показывает, что второе действие произошло почти сразу.
новый
new
грамматический
grammatical
что
that
показывать
to show
Questions & Answers about Новая грамматическая тема: конструкция «не успел ... как ...» показывает, что второе действие произошло почти сразу.
Why is the pattern given as не успел ... как ...? Why успел, specifically?
Успел is the masculine singular past-tense form of the perfective verb успеть.
In grammar explanations, Russian often shows a pattern in a kind of default form, usually masculine singular past. It does not mean you must always say успел.
In real sentences, the form changes to match the subject:
- Я не успел войти, как все замолчали.
- Она не успела войти, как все замолчали.
- Мы не успели войти, как все замолчали.
So the construction is really a model, and успел is just the citation form used in the explanation.
What does не успел ... как ... literally mean?
Literally, it is close to:
- He/she/I hadn’t managed to ... when/suddenly ...
- or more naturally in English: No sooner had ... than ...
The idea is that the second action happens so quickly that the first one is barely completed, or not even fully completed before the next event comes.
For example:
- Не успел я сесть, как урок начался.
= No sooner had I sat down than the lesson began.
So the construction expresses very quick succession between two events.
Why is there a не here? Why is the first part negative?