Breakdown of Анна любит обсуждать свою внешность.
любить
to love, to like
Анна
Anna
свой
one's own
обсуждать
to discuss
внешность
appearance
Questions & Answers about Анна любит обсуждать свою внешность.
Why is it свою instead of её for 'her'?
In Russian, when a possessive word refers back to the subject of the sentence (Anna), we use the reflexive pronoun свой (meaning 'one's own'). If we used её here, it would mean Anna likes discussing some other woman's appearance, not her own.
What case is свою внешность in?
It is in the accusative case because it is the direct object receiving the action of the verb обсуждать (to discuss).
If it is in the accusative case, why didn't the noun внешность change its ending?
The word внешность is a feminine noun ending in a soft sign (-ь). For this specific group of feminine nouns, the accusative form is exactly the same as the dictionary form. However, the pronoun своя still changes to свою, which proves the phrase is in the accusative case.
Why is the verb обсуждать (to discuss) in the imperfective aspect?
After verbs that express a general preference or habit, like любить (to like/love), Russian almost always uses the imperfective infinitive. She likes the general, ongoing process of discussing, not just a one-time completed event.
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