Breakdown of Честный человек не берёт эти деньги.
не
not
человек
person
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
деньги
money
брать
to take (imperfective)
честный
honest
Questions & Answers about Честный человек не берёт эти деньги.
Why is the т in честный silent when I listen to the audio?
In Russian, when certain consonants group together, one often becomes silent to make the word easier to say. In the cluster стн in честный, the т is dropped in speech, so it sounds like "ches-niy".
Where does the verb берёт come from?
It comes from the verb брать (to take). This is an irregular verb that changes its stem in the present tense. Instead of just adding endings to бра-, it changes to бер- (for example, я беру, он берёт, мы берём).
The English translation says "this money", but doesn't эти mean "these"?
Yes, эти means "these". However, in Russian, the word for money (деньги) is always plural. Because the noun is plural, any adjective or pointing word attached to it must also be plural. So Russian literally says "these moneys".
Why doesn't the ending of деньги change here, since it is the object of the verb?
The phrase эти деньги is the direct object being taken, so it is in the accusative case. For plural inanimate objects (things that are not alive), the accusative case looks exactly the same as the nominative (dictionary) case.
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