The intense craft of glassblowing pairs extreme heat with delicate artistry.
| For all the danger of the molten glass, the work is interesting. | При всей опасности расплавленного стекла работа интересна. |
Expressing Strong Concessions
To express a strong contrast—like "for all its [quality]" or "despite all the [quality]"—Russian uses the preposition при with the pronoun весь (all) and a noun. This entire phrase takes the Prepositional case.
The form of весь matches the noun's gender:
| Gender | Preposition + Pronoun |
|---|---|
| Masculine / Neuter | при всём |
| Feminine | при всей |
Neuter Nouns (при всём)
Most neuter nouns take the standard Prepositional ending -е.
| For all its elegance, this vase is very durable. | При всём изяществе эта ваза очень прочная. |
Feminine Nouns (при всей)
This construction frequently uses abstract feminine nouns ending in a soft sign (-ь), like caution, fragility, or danger. In the Prepositional case, this -ь changes to -и.
| Despite all his caution, he could not blow the red-hot glass. | При всей осторожности он не смог выдуть раскалённое стекло. |
Nouns Ending in -ие
Neuter nouns ending in -ие (like старание or великолепие) take the special ending -ии in the Prepositional case, rather than the standard -е.
| For all his effort, the glassblower did not blow the molten glass. | При всём старании стеклодув не выдул расплавленное стекло. |
An Alternative: Невзирая на
Another formal way to express concession is the prepositional phrase невзирая на (despite / regardless of). Unlike при всём, невзирая на requires the following noun to be in the Accusative case.
| Despite the fragility, the master did not break the glass. | Невзирая на хрупкость, мастер не разбил стекло. |