Breakdown of Я забыл взять с собой кроссовки.
я
I
взять
to take / to adopt
с
with (also со)
себя
oneself (себе: Dat/Prep)
забыть
to forget (perfective)
кроссовки
the sneakers
Questions & Answers about Я забыл взять с собой кроссовки.
Why does this sentence use с собой instead of со мной for "with me"?
In Russian, when the person doing the action (the subject, я) is the same person the preposition relates to, you must use the reflexive pronoun себя (oneself). After the preposition с (with), it takes the instrumental case: с собой. English simply says "with me", but in Russian, you always take things "with yourself".
If a female speaker were saying this, would с собой change?
No, с собой stays exactly the same for all genders and persons (I, you, he, she, they, etc.) as long as it refers back to the subject. However, a female speaker would need to change the past tense verb to match her gender: Я забыла.
Why do we use the perfective verbs забыл and взять here?
Забыл is perfective because the act of forgetting was a single, completed event in the past. Взять is also perfective because it refers to a specific, one-time action (taking the sneakers for this particular occasion), rather than a repeated habit.
What case is кроссовки (sneakers) in?
It is in the accusative case, because it is the direct object (the thing being taken). However, because clothing items are inanimate, their accusative plural form looks exactly the same as their dictionary form (nominative plural).
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