Breakdown of В сентябре никто не покупает этот тур, потому что каникулы кончаются.
не
not
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
потому что
because
покупать
to buy
в
on / during (a time period)
никто
nobody
кончаться
to end (of an event)
сентябрь
September
каникулы
holidays
тур
tour
Questions & Answers about В сентябре никто не покупает этот тур, потому что каникулы кончаются.
Why does сентябрь become сентябре in this sentence?
To say "in a certain month", Russian uses the preposition в followed by the Prepositional case. The dictionary form for September is сентябрь. Because it is a masculine word ending in a soft sign (-ь), the soft sign is replaced by -е in the Prepositional case, giving us в сентябре.
The phrase никто не покупает looks like "nobody doesn't buy". Why use a double negative?
In Russian, double negatives are grammatically required. Whenever you use a negative pronoun like никто (nobody) or ничего (nothing), you must also put не (not) in front of the verb. So, "nobody buys" will always be никто не покупает.
The tour is the object being bought, so why isn't этот тур in the Accusative case?
It actually is in the Accusative case! For masculine nouns that are inanimate (non-living things like a tour), the Accusative case endings are exactly identical to the Nominative (dictionary) case endings. Because of this rule, этот тур doesn't change its spelling here.
Why is the verb кончаются (are ending) in the plural form if it just means "vacation"?
Because its subject is каникулы (school holidays or vacation). In Russian, каникулы is a plural-only word, similar to "scissors" or "clothes" in English. Even if you are talking about one single vacation period, you must use plural verbs with it.
Why does the verb кончаются have the -ся ending?
The -ся ending makes the verb reflexive. This is often used when an action happens on its own without a direct object. If you used кончают without the -ся, it would mean "they are finishing [something else]". With -ся, it means the holidays are ending themselves.
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