Breakdown of Они часто ссорятся, но потом быстро мирятся.
они
they
часто
often
быстро
fast, quickly
потом
then
но
but
ссориться
to argue / to quarrel (to have a falling out)
мириться
to make up / to reconcile
Questions & Answers about Они часто ссорятся, но потом быстро мирятся.
Why do both ссорятся and мирятся end in -ся?
The ending -ся here shows that these are reciprocal verbs, meaning the action is shared. They aren't doing the action to a separate object; they are doing it with each other. Ссориться means to argue with each other, and мириться means to make up with each other.
Our current lesson is about using с (with) and the Instrumental case with reciprocal verbs. Why aren't they in this sentence?
Because the subject is plural (Они - they), the idea of 'with each other' is already built into the verbs themselves. If you wanted to describe one person arguing with another, like 'He argues with her', then you would need с and the Instrumental case: Он ссорится с ней.
How do we conjugate ссорятся and мирятся from their dictionary forms?
Both come from dictionary forms ending in -ить (ссориться and мириться). They follow the standard 'Type 2' conjugation. For the они (they) form, the ending is -ят. Because -ят ends in a consonant, we attach -ся rather than -сь to get ссорятся and мирятся.
Could I use тогда instead of потом for 'then'?
No, because потом specifically means 'then' as in 'afterwards' or 'next in time'. It is used for a sequence of events: first they argue, then they make up. Тогда is used when 'then' means 'at that specific time' or 'in that case'.
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