Breakdown of Наш конкурент купил их акции в две тысячи восьмом году.
наш
our (наш, наша, наше)
их
their
год
year
две
two (f)
купить
to buy (perfective)
в
on / during (a time period)
тысяча
thousand
восьмой
eighth
конкурент
the competitor (m)
акция
the share (f)
Questions & Answers about Наш конкурент купил их акции в две тысячи восьмом году.
Why does the word for year end in -у (году) after в instead of the usual Prepositional -е?
The word год (year) is one of a special group of masculine words that take an irregular -у ending in the Prepositional case when talking about time or location (after в or на). So, 'in a specific year' is always в ... году.
In две тысячи восьмом, why did only восьмом change to the Prepositional case?
In Russian, years are expressed using ordinal numbers (like 'the two thousand and eighth year'). For compound numbers, only the very last word becomes an ordinal and changes its ending to match the case. The earlier parts (две тысячи) stay as normal numbers in their base form.
Why doesn't the word их (their) change its ending to match акции?
Unlike наш (our) or мой (my), the possessive words его (his), её (hers), and их (theirs) are frozen. They never change their endings, no matter what case, gender, or number the noun they describe is in.
Why does акции (shares) look like it is in the Nominative case if it is the object of the verb?
It is actually in the Accusative case because it is the direct object receiving the action. However, for plural nouns that are inanimate (non-living things like shares), the Accusative case form is exactly the same as the Nominative plural (акции).
Why do we use the perfective verb купил here instead of the imperfective покупал?
We use the perfective купил because it describes a single, completed action with a result in the past. The competitor made the purchase once in 2008. If they 'were buying' shares over a long period or did it repeatedly, we would use the imperfective покупал.
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