Breakdown of Я хорошо представляю себе этот город.
я
I
город
city
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
хорошо
well
себя
oneself (себе: Dat/Prep)
представлять
to imagine (with себе)
Questions & Answers about Я хорошо представляю себе этот город.
Why is the word себе used in this sentence?
Себе is the Dative case of the reflexive pronoun себя (oneself). The phrase представлять себе literally translates to 'to present to oneself', which is the natural Russian way to say 'to imagine' or 'to picture'.
Would the sentence mean the same thing if I left out себе?
No, it would change the meaning. Without себе, the verb представлять means 'to present,' 'to represent,' or 'to introduce.' By adding себе, you specify that you are presenting the image to your own mind, which gives us the meaning 'to imagine'.
Why is the pronoun себя in the Dative case (себе) rather than the Accusative case (себя)?
The Accusative case is for the direct object, which is the thing being imagined. In this sentence, the direct object is этот город (this city). The Dative case is used for the indirect object, answering 'to whom' the city is being presented. You are picturing the city to yourself (себе).
I see этот город is the direct object. Why doesn't its ending change?
Since этот город is the direct object of what you are picturing, it is in the Accusative case. However, for masculine inanimate nouns (non-living things, like a city), the Accusative form looks exactly the same as the Nominative dictionary form.
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