Breakdown of Он жил в доме отца, после смерти которого он уехал.
дом
house
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
жить
to live
в
in / to (direction)
после
after
уехать
to leave (by vehicle, pf)
который
which / who / that (relative pronoun)
отец
father
смерть
death
Questions & Answers about Он жил в доме отца, после смерти которого он уехал.
Why is которого at the end of the phrase после смерти которого, instead of before смерти?
When который acts like 'whose' to show possession, it takes the Genitive case (которого). Unlike the English word 'whose', this Genitive form usually comes after the noun it belongs to. So, instead of saying 'after whose death', Russian phrases it more like 'after the death of whom' (после смерти которого).
Does которого take its gender from the death (смерти) or the father (отца)?
It matches отца (father), which is masculine and singular. The word который always copies the gender and number of the noun it points back to from the first half of the sentence. If it referred to a sister, it would be feminine: после смерти которой.
Why does смерть (death) change to смерти here?
The preposition после (after) always forces the next noun into the Genitive case. Since смерть is a feminine noun ending in a soft sign (-ь), its Genitive ending changes to -и.
Why is the word for 'father' spelled отца instead of 'отеца'?
The dictionary form is отец. When adding the Genitive ending -а to mean 'of the father', the vowel -е- drops out completely. This is called a 'fleeting vowel' and is a common pattern you will see in many Russian nouns.
Does the verb уехал mean he walked away or drove away?
The verb уехал comes from ехать, which means to go by transport. The prefix у- adds the meaning of 'away'. So it specifically means he left by vehicle, or more broadly, that he 'moved away' to another town or place, rather than just walking out the door.
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