Breakdown of У нас мало требований, потому что это просто игра.
это
this / it is
мы
we
потому что
because
у
at, by
мало
little
игра
game
просто
simply, just
требование
requirement
Questions & Answers about У нас мало требований, потому что это просто игра.
Why is требований in this specific form after мало?
Words that express a quantity, like мало (few), много (many), and сколько (how many), require the noun that follows to be in the Genitive case. Since we are talking about multiple countable things (requirements), we use the Genitive plural form: требований.
How do you form the Genitive plural of требование?
The dictionary form is требование, which is a neuter noun ending in -ие. To make the Genitive plural for neuter nouns ending in -ие, you replace the final -е with a -й. This gives you the ending -ий, resulting in требований.
Why does the sentence use у нас instead of a direct verb for 'we have'?
Russian usually expresses possession with the 'at someone there is' structure rather than a verb like 'to have'. У нас means 'at us' (using the preposition у plus the Genitive case of мы). The present tense verb 'are' is understood, so у нас мало требований literally means 'at us [there are] few requirements'.
Why use это for 'it' instead of она, since игра is a feminine noun?
When you say 'This is...' or 'It is...' to introduce or define what something is, Russian uses the fixed word это, regardless of the gender of the noun that follows. Because we are simply stating 'it is just a game', это is the correct choice.
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