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Questions & Answers about Його емоції були дуже сильними.
What does Його mean in this sentence, and does it always translate as "his"?
Його is a possessive pronoun meaning "his". In this context, it indicates that the emotions belong to him. Although його can also sometimes mean "its," the context usually makes clear that it is referring to a person’s emotion—in this case, “his emotions.”
Why is the adjective сильними in the instrumental case instead of the nominative?
In Ukrainian, when using the verb бути (to be) to describe a state or quality in the past (or even the present), the predicate adjective is placed in the instrumental case. Here, сильними is the instrumental plural form of сильний. This usage indicates the state or quality attributed to the subject and is a standard grammatical structure in Ukrainian.
How is the form сильними determined? Why does it end with -ими?
Сильними is the instrumental plural form of the adjective сильний (strong/intense). The ending -ими is typical for adjectives in the instrumental case when describing plural subjects. Since емоції is a plural noun, the adjective must agree in number and case, resulting in the form сильними.
What role does the adverb дуже play in the sentence?
Дуже functions as an intensifier, translating to "very" in English. It modifies the adjective сильними, stressing that the emotions were not just strong but very strong. This adverb enhances the descriptive quality provided by the adjective.
How does subject-adjective agreement work in this sentence?
The subject емоції (emotions) is plural, so any descriptive adjective needs to agree in number. Although емоції is a feminine noun, when used as a predicate after були (the plural past form of “to be”), the adjective adopts the instrumental plural form. This ensures that the adjective сильними matches the subject in number and the required instrumental case for predicate adjectives.
Why does the sentence use були as the form of the verb “to be”?
Були is the past tense, plural form of the verb бути (to be). Since the subject емоції is plural and the sentence is describing a past state, були is correctly used to indicate that the emotions were in a certain state (being very strong) in the past.