Word
Он разговаривает со своим старым другом.
Meaning
He is talking with his old friend.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Он разговаривает со своим старым другом.
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
друг
friend
старый
old
разговаривать
to talk
Questions & Answers about Он разговаривает со своим старым другом.
Why is it со instead of just с for the word "with"?
The preposition с changes to со to make pronunciation easier when the next word starts with certain consonant combinations, especially those starting with с or з. Try saying с своим out loud—it is hard to pronounce! Adding the "o" makes it flow smoothly as со своим.
Why do we use своим here instead of его for "his"?
Свой is a reflexive possessive pronoun that means "one's own." Because the subject of the sentence (Он) is the "owner" of the friend, we must use свой. If we used его (Он разговаривает с его другом), it would mean he is talking to someone else's friend.
How do the Instrumental endings work for своим старым in this sentence?
The preposition со (meaning "with") requires the Instrumental case. For masculine nouns like друг, the ending is -ом (другом). For masculine adjectives and possessive pronouns, the standard Instrumental endings are -ым or -им. Therefore, свой becomes своим, and старый becomes старым.
Could I use говорит instead of разговаривает here?