Breakdown of Когда моей бабушке было шестьдесят лет, она часто вспоминала молодость.
она
she / it (for a feminine noun)
мой
my / mine
часто
often
вспоминать
to remember, to recall
бабушка
grandmother
год
year
быть
to be
когда
when
шестьдесят
sixty
молодость
youth
Questions & Answers about Когда моей бабушке было шестьдесят лет, она часто вспоминала молодость.
Why is it моей бабушке instead of моя бабушка?
In Russian, when you talk about someone's age, the person is put in the dative case. It is as if you are saying 'to my grandmother, there were sixty years.' The nominative phrase моя бабушка changes to the dative form моей бабушке.
Why does the sentence use the neuter verb было instead of была for grandmother?
Why do we use лет after шестьдесят instead of года?
The word for 'years' changes depending on the number right before it. For numbers ending in 5 through 9, 0, and the teens (like 11-19), we use the genitive plural form лет. Since sixty (шестьдесят) is a round ten ending in zero, it must take лет.
Why is the verb вспоминала in the imperfective aspect here?
The sentence includes the word часто (often), which tells us this was a repeated or habitual action in the past. When an action happens repeatedly rather than just one single completed time, Russian requires the imperfective aspect.
Is the word молодость in the nominative or accusative case here?
It is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of the verb (it is the thing she remembered). However, молодость is a feminine noun ending in a soft sign. For these specific nouns, the accusative form looks exactly the same as the nominative dictionary form.
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