Breakdown of Детектив хочет выяснить, где прячется преступник.
где
where / wherever
хотеть
to want
прятаться
to hide
детектив
detective
выяснить
to find out
преступник
criminal
Questions & Answers about Детектив хочет выяснить, где прячется преступник.
Why is there a comma before где?
In Russian, you must always put a comma before the second part of a complex sentence. This applies to indirect speech and questions, so you will always see a comma before words like где (where), что (that/what), or кто (who) when they connect two halves of a sentence.
Why is the word order где прячется преступник instead of где преступник прячется?
In English, we say 'where the criminal is hiding' (subject then verb). In Russian indirect questions, it is very common and natural to put the verb right after the question word, making it literally 'where is hiding the criminal'. You can use the English word order, but putting the verb first sounds more authentically Russian.
Why does the verb прячется (is hiding) end with -ся?
The -ся ending makes the verb reflexive, meaning the subject is doing the action to themselves. The criminal is hiding himself. If you used the plain verb прячет, it would mean he is hiding an object, like stolen money or a weapon.
Why is the perfective verb выяснить (to find out) used here?
The detective wants to achieve a single, complete result: discovering the location once and for all. After verbs like хотеть (to want), we use the perfective infinitive to focus on successfully completing a specific action rather than doing it as an ongoing process.
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