Breakdown of Это такая радость — встретить старых родственников!
это
this / it is
старый
old
родственник
relative
такой
such / so / what ... is
встретить
to meet (pf)
радость
joy
Questions & Answers about Это такая радость — встретить старых родственников!
Why do старых and родственников have those endings if they are the direct object of the verb?
Because родственник (relative) is a living person, making it an animate noun. In the plural, the Accusative case (used for direct objects) for animate nouns and their adjectives copies the Genitive case. So, instead of the Nominative старые родственники, we must use the Genitive plural forms: старых родственников.
Why is the perfective verb встретить used here instead of the imperfective встречать?
We use the perfective встретить because the sentence focuses on a specific, successfully completed event (the actual moment of reuniting with them as a result of a trip or visit), rather than a repeated habit or the ongoing process of meeting.
Why do we use такая instead of так for "such" or "so"?
Так (so) is an adverb used to describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. Because радость (joy) is a noun, we must use the adjective такой (such a). It changes to the feminine form такая to match радость, which is a feminine noun.
What is the function of the dash (—) in this sentence?
In Russian, a long dash is often used where English might just naturally connect the phrases or use a colon. Because Russian leaves out the present-tense verb "is", the dash acts as a bridge linking the feeling (Это такая радость) directly to the action that causes it (встретить...).
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