Questions & Answers about Мы читаем с удовольствием.
Does the preposition с always mean 'with a person'?
Not always! While this lesson focuses on doing things 'with' someone (like с братом - with a brother), you can also use с plus the Instrumental case with abstract concepts to show how you do something. Here, с удовольствием means 'with pleasure' or 'gladly'.
What is the dictionary form of удовольствием and why does it have this ending?
The dictionary form is удовольствие (pleasure), which is a neuter noun. Because it follows the preposition с, it must be in the Instrumental case. For neuter nouns ending in -ие, we change the final -е to -ем, making it удовольствием.
Do I pause between с and удовольствием when speaking?
No, you should not pause. In Russian, single-letter prepositions like с merge with the word that follows them. You pronounce it smoothly as a single block of sound, almost as if it were spelled 'судовольствием'.
Why is the verb spelled читаем?
This is a quick refresher on present tense verbs! Читать (to read) is a regular verb. To match the pronoun мы (we), you drop the -ть from the dictionary form and add the ending -ем.
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