Breakdown of Я советую тебе не верить этому чужому человеку.
не
not
я
I
человек
person
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
тебе
to you (informal)
чужой
someone else's
советовать
to advise
верить
to believe
Questions & Answers about Я советую тебе не верить этому чужому человеку.
Why are the words этому чужому used instead of этот чужой?
The verb верить (to believe) requires the Dative case for the person you are believing. Since человек is a masculine noun, its Dative form is человеку. The demonstrative pronoun этот (this) changes to этому, and the adjective чужой (strange/alien) changes to чужому to match.
Wait, there are two words in the Dative case here (тебе and человеку). Why is that?
They belong to two different verbs! The verb советовать (to advise) needs the Dative case for the person receiving the advice, which gives us тебе (to you). The verb верить (to believe) needs the Dative for the person being believed, which gives us этому чужому человеку.
Does чужому человеку just mean 'stranger'?
Why does советовать change to советую? Where did the -у- come from?
This is a common verb rule you might remember: verbs ending in -овать drop the -ова- part and replace it with -у- in the present tense. That is why советовать becomes я советую (I advise).
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