Question 1

How does хотя work here, and why is there a comma before it?

Accepted Answer

The word хотя means "although" or "even though" and connects a surprising or contrasting fact to the main sentence. In Russian, you must always put a comma before хотя when it introduces a new clause. Notice that although introduces a contrast, it does not force you to change the normal word order.

Question 2

Why does этого специалиста look like it is in the Genitive case?

Accepted Answer

Because специалист is an animate masculine noun (a living person). When an animate masculine noun is the direct object of a verb, like being hired here, it takes the Accusative case. For animate masculine nouns, the Accusative endings look exactly like the Genitive case. That is why we use этого специалиста instead of the dictionary forms.

Question 3

The verb is требует. Why does it have a "у" if the infinitive is требовать?

Accepted Answer

The verb требовать (to demand) belongs to a common group of verbs that end in -овать. When you conjugate these verbs in the present tense, the -ова- piece completely changes into a -у-. This gives us он требует instead of the incorrect form "он требовает".

Question 4

Why are both decided (решили) and to hire (нанять) in the perfective aspect?

Accepted Answer

Both verbs focus on a specific, completed result rather than an ongoing process. Решили is perfective because the group's decision has been successfully made. Нанять is also perfective because they want the final result of having him hired, not the ongoing process of trying to hire someone.

Мы решили нанять этого специалиста, хотя он требует большую зарплату.

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