Breakdown of Новый учитель всегда нам помогает.
учитель
teacher
новый
new
всегда
always
помогать
to help
нам
to us
Questions & Answers about Новый учитель всегда нам помогает.
Why is "us" translated as нам here instead of the direct object form нас?
In English, "us" is a direct object ("helps us"). But in Russian, the verb помогать (to help) always requires the Dative case. It helps to think of it as giving help to someone. Because of this rule, the pronoun мы (we) changes into its Dative form, нам.
Is it okay to say помогает нам instead of нам помогает?
Yes! Russian word order is flexible. Новый учитель всегда помогает нам is perfectly correct. Placing the pronoun нам right before the verb is just a very common and natural-sounding way to phrase it in everyday speech.
Since учитель ends in a soft sign (-ь), how do I know it takes the masculine adjective новый?
What is the dictionary form (infinitive) of помогает?
The dictionary form is помогать (to help). Because the subject of the sentence is учитель (the teacher, which acts as a "he"), we use the regular conjugation rules: drop the -ть and add the "he/she/it" ending -ет to make помогает.
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