Breakdown of Утром секретарь отправляет сообщение начальству.
утром
in the morning
секретарь
secretary
отправлять
to send
сообщение
message
начальство
management
Questions & Answers about Утром секретарь отправляет сообщение начальству.
Why does начальству end in -у?
This is the Dative case, which is used for the indirect object—the person or group receiving an action. The dictionary form is начальство (management), which is a neuter noun. To say "to the management", we drop the -о and add -у.
The word сообщение (message) is the direct object here. Why didn't its ending change?
Сообщение is in the Accusative case because it is the direct object (the thing being sent). However, for neuter nouns like this one, the Accusative case looks exactly the same as the dictionary form. The ending would usually only change if it were a feminine noun or a living masculine noun.
Why is "in the morning" translated as just one word, утром, without a preposition for "in"?
In Russian, you don't use a preposition for parts of the day. Instead, you take the dictionary word утро (morning) and change its ending to make it утром. This special form (the Instrumental case) automatically means "in the morning".
The subject секретарь ends in a soft sign (ь). Is it masculine or feminine?
Секретарь is a masculine noun. Nouns ending in a soft sign can be either masculine or feminine, so you usually just have to memorize their gender when you learn the word!
Learn Утром секретарь отправляет сообщение начальству and more in Russian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free