Breakdown of Автор отправил длинный текст своим подписчикам.
текст
text
отправить
to send (perfective)
длинный
long
автор
author
свой
one's own
подписчик
the subscriber
Questions & Answers about Автор отправил длинный текст своим подписчикам.
Why are the words своим подписчикам in the dative case?
In Russian, the dative case is used for the indirect object—the person or thing to whom an action is directed. Here, the author sent the text to his subscribers, so подписчик (subscriber) must be put into the dative case.
How do the plural dative endings work for своим подписчикам?
For plural nouns in the dative case, the ending is usually -ам or -ям. Since подписчик ends in a hard consonant, it adds -ам, becoming подписчикам. Plural adjectives and possessive pronouns like свой (one's own) take -ым or -им. Here, it takes -им, becoming своим.
Why did we use своим (his own) instead of его (his)?
In Russian, when a possessive word refers back to the subject of the sentence, you use the reflexive possessive pronoun свой. Since the author is the subject and the subscribers are his, we use своим. If we used его подписчикам, it would mean he sent the text to someone else's subscribers!
Why is длинный текст (long text) in its dictionary form? Shouldn't it change because it's the object of the sentence?
It actually is in the accusative case because it's the direct object (the thing being sent). However, for masculine, inanimate nouns (non-living things like a text), the accusative case looks exactly the same as the nominative (dictionary) form. The adjective длинный copies this behavior, so it doesn't look changed either.
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