Breakdown of Во втором тайме наша команда не забила ни одного гола, и матч закончился ничьей.
Questions & Answers about Во втором тайме наша команда не забила ни одного гола, и матч закончился ничьей.
Why is it во втором тайме, not в втором тайме?
Russian sometimes uses во instead of в to make pronunciation easier, especially before awkward consonant clusters.
Here the next word starts with вт-: втором, so во втором is the normal form.
This is the same preposition в meaning in / during; the extra о is just for euphony.
What case is во втором тайме, and why?
It is the prepositional singular.
- второй тайм = base form
- во втором тайме = prepositional singular
After в / во meaning in or during, Russian often uses the prepositional case for location or time.
So во втором тайме means in the second half.
Both words change:
- второй → втором
- тайм → тайме
What does тайм mean here?
In sports Russian, тайм means a half or period of play.
In football:
- первый тайм = first half
- второй тайм = second half
It is a borrowing from English, but in Russian it is a normal sports word.
Why is it не забила, not не забивала?
This is about aspect.
- забить = perfective
- забивать = imperfective
Here Russian uses не забила because it refers to a completed stretch of time and focuses on the result: during that half, the team failed to score.
не забивала would sound more like:
- repeated or habitual non-scoring
- an ongoing process
- background description rather than a completed match fact
In sports reports, не забила is the natural choice.
How does ни одного гола work?
ни одного means not a single or not one.
Russian normally uses не with the verb and ни to reinforce the negation:
- не забила ни одного гола
This is normal Russian negative structure, not a mistake or an unnecessary double negative.
In English, double negatives are usually avoided, but in Russian they are standard.
Why is it ни одного гола, not ни один гол?
Because here the phrase is the object of a negative verb.
The usual pattern is:
- не + verb + ни одного + genitive singular noun
So:
- не забила ни одного гола
Ни один гол is more natural when it is the subject of the sentence, for example:
- Ни один гол не был забит = Not a single goal was scored
So both patterns exist, but they are used in different sentence structures.
Why is гола in the genitive singular?
Because after ни одного, the noun is normally in the genitive singular:
- одного гола
- ни одного гола
So even though English says one goal, Russian uses the genitive form here.
This fits a very common Russian pattern with:
- quantity expressions
- negative expressions
- phrases like ни одного, много, мало, etc.
Why is there a comma before и?
Because и is joining two full clauses, each with its own verb:
- наша команда не забила ни одного гола
- матч закончился ничьей
When и connects two independent clauses like this, a comma is normally used.
Why is it закончился, with -ся?
Because закончиться means to end, while закончить means to finish something.
Compare:
- команда закончила матч = the team finished the match
- матч закончился = the match ended
In this sentence, the match itself ended, so Russian uses the reflexive/intransitive form закончился.
Why does the verb say закончился and not some other past-tense form?
Because it agrees with матч.
- матч is masculine singular
- past-tense verbs in Russian agree in gender and number
So:
- masculine singular → закончился
- feminine singular would be закончилась
- plural would be закончились
That is why the form is закончился.
Why is ничьей used here? What case is it?
It is the instrumental singular of ничья.
Russian often uses the instrumental after закончиться to say what something ended with / as:
- матч закончился ничьей
So the pattern is basically:
- закончиться чем? = to end in / with what?
Examples:
- разговор закончился ссорой = the conversation ended in a quarrel
- матч закончился ничьей = the match ended in a draw
Is ничьей pronounced as written, or is it really ничьёй?
In pronunciation, it is often ничьёй.
Russian spelling often leaves out the dots on ё, and writes е instead. So in normal texts you may see:
- ничьей
but it may be pronounced:
- ничьёй
This is very common in Russian. Learners often have to know from context or from a dictionary whether a written е is really ё in pronunciation.
Could this also be матч закончился вничью?
Yes. Матч закончился вничью is also very common and means the same thing.
Russian has two natural ways to express this idea:
- матч закончился ничьей
- матч закончился вничью
Both are correct. The sentence you were given uses the instrumental noun pattern.
Is the word order fixed? Could Во втором тайме go somewhere else?
Yes, the word order is flexible.
Starting with Во втором тайме puts the time frame first, which is very natural in narration or reporting. But you could also say:
- Наша команда во втором тайме не забила ни одного гола...
The basic meaning stays the same. The difference is mainly in emphasis and flow. Russian often moves time expressions to the front to set the scene first.
Sign up free — start using our AI language tutor
Start learning RussianMaster Russian — from Во втором тайме наша команда не забила ни одного гола, и матч закончился ничьей to fluency
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓Infinitely deep — unlimited vocabulary and grammar
- ✓Fast-paced — build complex sentences from the start
- ✓Unforgettable — efficient spaced repetition system
- ✓ AI tutor to answer your grammar questions