Breakdown of Вчера я разговаривал с коллегой.
я
I
вчера
yesterday
разговаривать
to talk
с
with (also со)
коллега
colleague
Questions & Answers about Вчера я разговаривал с коллегой.
Why does коллега change to коллегой here?
The preposition с (meaning "with") requires the Instrumental case. For nouns ending in -а, like коллега, the ending changes to -ой in the Instrumental case.
Is коллега a masculine or a feminine word?
It can be both! Коллега is a "common gender" noun. It refers to a male or female colleague depending on whom you are talking about. However, because its dictionary form ends in -а, it always takes the same endings as feminine nouns when changing cases, which is why it becomes коллегой here.
How do we know if the person saying this sentence is a man or a woman?
What is the difference between разговаривал and говорил?
While говорил generally means "spoke" or "talked," разговаривал specifically means "conversed" or "had a conversation." It is very commonly used with с (with) because it emphasizes a two-way interaction between people.
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