Breakdown of Марафон проходит через исторический квартал, а потом бегуны безопасно переходят мост.
а
and (contrastive)
потом
then
мост
bridge
переходить
to cross (imperfective)
марафон
marathon
бегун
runner
проходить
to pass
через
through
исторический
historical
квартал
neighborhood
безопасно
safely
Questions & Answers about Марафон проходит через исторический квартал, а потом бегуны безопасно переходят мост.
Why does the sentence use проходит and pair it with через?
The prefix про- added to the verb of motion ходить (to go on foot) gives the meaning of passing by or moving through a space. To specify that the marathon passes through a specific area, we pair it with the preposition через (through) followed by the accusative case.
Why is there no preposition like "over" or "across" before мост?
The prefix пере- gives the verb переходить the meaning of crossing from one side to another. Because the prefix itself already contains the idea of "across," the verb simply takes a direct object in the accusative case. You don't need an extra preposition before мост (bridge).
If these verbs are based on ходить (to walk), why are they used for a running race?
While the base verb ходить specifically means moving on foot, prefixed verbs like проходить and переходить are often used for general routes and events. An event like a marathon, meeting, or concert is said to "take place" or "run its route" using проходить. For the runners crossing the bridge, переходить acts as a general "navigate across," though перебегать (to run across) could also be used if you wanted to heavily emphasize the running.
Why don't the words квартал and мост change their endings in this sentence?
Both квартал (neighborhood/block) and мост (bridge) are masculine inanimate nouns. In this sentence, they are both in the accusative case—квартал because it follows the preposition через, and мост because it is the direct object of the verb. A helpful rule to remember: for masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative case form is identical to the dictionary (nominative) form.
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