Breakdown of Ночью был шум, и мой брат куда-то пошёл.
и
and
брат
brother
мой
my / mine
быть
to be
ночью
at night
пойти
to go (perfective, on foot) / to start (of rain, snow)
шум
noise
куда-то
somewhere (destination)
Questions & Answers about Ночью был шум, и мой брат куда-то пошёл.
Why does this sentence use куда-то instead of где-то for "somewhere"?
Both words translate to "somewhere", but they are used differently depending on motion. You use где-то when talking about a static location (where something is happening). You use куда-то when talking about a destination or direction (where someone is going). Because the brother is moving toward a destination (пошёл), we must use куда-то.
Why is "at night" translated as ночью?
The word ночью is the instrumental case of ночь (night). In Russian, times of the day take the instrumental case to mean "in the" or "at" that time. Other common examples you might remember are утром (in the morning) and вечером (in the evening).
Why is the verb был (was) masculine here?
In English we say "there was a noise", but in Russian you literally say "a noise was". The subject of this part of the sentence is шум (noise). Since шум is a masculine noun ending in a consonant, the verb must be the masculine past tense form, был.
Why use пошёл rather than шёл or ходил for "went"?
The verb пошёл is perfective and focuses on the start of the action or a one-way trip, so it means he "set off" or "left" on foot. If we used шёл, it would mean he was in the middle of walking, and ходил would imply he made a round trip (went somewhere and already came back).
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