Breakdown of Вчера мой брат был болен, поэтому сегодня я приглашаю этого известного врача.
брат
brother
я
I
врач
doctor
мой
my (мой, моя, моё) / mine
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
известный
famous
приглашать
to invite
вчера
yesterday
быть
to be
сегодня
today
поэтому
so (therefore)
болен
ill (болен, больна, больны)
Questions & Answers about Вчера мой брат был болен, поэтому сегодня я приглашаю этого известного врача.
Why do we say этого известного instead of этот известный?
The phrase "this famous doctor" is the direct object of the verb приглашаю (I am inviting), so it needs to be in the accusative case. For animate masculine nouns (people and animals), the accusative case looks exactly like the genitive case. That is why the modifiers take the -ого ending, giving us этого известного.
Is the noun врача also in the accusative case here?
Yes! The dictionary form is врач (doctor). Because it is a masculine, animate noun receiving the action, its accusative form copies its genitive form by adding an -а. The modifiers этого известного are just matching this genitive-looking accusative noun.
How do you pronounce the endings in этого известного?
The letter г in the masculine and neuter -ого and -его endings is always pronounced like the English letter "v". It is a quirky rule you will see everywhere, so these endings sound like "-ovo".
Why is it болен instead of the regular adjective больной?
Болен is a short-form adjective. In Russian, short adjectives are often used to describe temporary states. Since the brother was sick just yesterday (a temporary condition), we use болен. The full adjective больной would sound more like a permanent trait, implying he is chronically ill.
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