Questions & Answers about Мы поздравляем бабушку.
Why does grandmother end in -у (бабушку)? Shouldn't we use the Dative case to say congratulations 'to' her?
In English, we often think of giving congratulations 'to' someone, which would normally mean using the Dative case in Russian. But the Russian verb поздравлять (to congratulate) takes a direct object. This means the person being congratulated must be in the Accusative case, changing бабушка to бабушку.
If I want to replace бабушку with 'her', do I use the Dative pronoun ей from this lesson?
No, you would use the Accusative pronoun её. Because the verb поздравлять demands the Accusative case, you cannot use the Dative pronouns (like ей, ему, or им) with it, even if it feels like you are directing congratulations 'to' them in English.
Why does the verb end in -ем?
The dictionary form of the verb is поздравлять. Since the subject is мы (we), you drop the -ть ending and add the standard 'we' ending for this verb group, which is -ем. This gives us поздравляем.
Is this verb related to the common Russian phrase for 'Congratulations!'?
Yes! When Russians want to say 'Congratulations!', they usually just say Поздравляю! This is simply the 'I' form of this exact same verb, literally meaning 'I congratulate (you)'.
Learn Мы поздравляем бабушку 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