Question 1

Why does начальству end in -у?

Accepted Answer

The dictionary form of the word is начальство (management), which is a neuter noun. Because the message is being sent to the management, it acts as the indirect object. In Russian, we use the Dative case for this. For neuter nouns ending in -о, the Dative case changes the ending to -у.

Question 2

The English translation implies a group of people. Is начальству singular or plural?

Accepted Answer

Grammatically, the base word начальство is a singular neuter noun, even though it describes a group of people (a collective noun, much like "management" in English). Because it is grammatically singular, we use the singular Dative ending -у here rather than a plural ending.

Question 3

Why didn't the word сообщение change its ending? Isn't it the direct object?

Accepted Answer

Yes, сообщение (message) is the direct object (the thing being sent), which means it is in the Accusative case. However, it is a neuter noun. In Russian, neuter nouns do not change their endings in the Accusative case. They look exactly the same as their dictionary form.

Question 4

Does отправил tell us if the speaker is a man or a woman?

Accepted Answer

Yes, it tells us the speaker is a man. In the past tense, Russian verbs must match the gender of the subject. Because отправил has the masculine ending, we know a man is speaking. A female speaker would add an -а to the end and say отправила.

Я уже отправил сообщение начальству.

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