Question 1

Why do we say ему было instead of он был?

Accepted Answer

In Russian, age is expressed using the Dative case. Instead of saying "he was 22," you literally say "to him it was 22 years." Therefore, we use ему (to him) instead of он (he).

Question 2

Since ему refers to a man, why is the verb было in the neuter form instead of the masculine был?

Accepted Answer

Because this is an impersonal sentence. There is no active Nominative subject doing the action. When a past-tense verb doesn't have a grammatical subject to agree with, it defaults to the neuter singular form было.

Question 3

Why is the word for years года here instead of лет?

Accepted Answer

When counting years, the noun's form changes based on the last digit of the number. Because 22 ends in два (two), it takes the genitive singular form года. You only use лет (the genitive plural) for numbers ending in 5-9, 0, and the teens like 11-19.

Question 4

Why does the sentence use ему in the first half, but switch to он in the second half?

Accepted Answer

Each half of the sentence has its own grammatical rules. The first half is about age, which requires the Dative case (ему). In the second half, "he" is the active subject who is deciding something, so it switches back to the standard Nominative case (он).

Question 5

Does жениться mean "to get married" for anyone?

Accepted Answer

Not quite! Жениться is related to the word жена (wife) and literally means "to take a wife." It is used when a man gets married, or when a couple marries. If a woman is getting married, Russian uses a different phrase: выйти замуж.

Ему было двадцать два года, когда он решил жениться.

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