Breakdown of Я знакомлюсь с новым студентом.
студент
student (m)
новый
new
с
with (also со)
знакомиться
to get acquainted (imperfective)
Questions & Answers about Я знакомлюсь с новым студентом.
Why does the verb знакомлюсь end in -сь instead of -ся?
In Russian, reflexive verbs add -ся after consonants (like in он знакомится) and -сь after vowels. Since the first-person singular ending is -ю (a vowel), знакомлюсь takes -сь.
Why are новый and студент in the Instrumental case here?
The verb знакомиться (to get acquainted) is a reciprocal reflexive verb. When you express who you are getting acquainted with, you use the preposition с (with) followed by the Instrumental case. That is why новый студент becomes с новым студентом.
How do we get the ending -ым for the adjective новым?
For masculine nouns in the Instrumental case, standard adjectives take the ending -ым (or -им after a soft consonant or a 5-letter spelling rule letter). Since the stem of новый ends in a hard consonant, it takes the standard -ым.
Could I use встречаться here instead?
It depends on the context. Знакомиться specifically means to get acquainted or to meet someone for the very first time. If you are just meeting up with a student you already know, you would use встречаться instead. Both verbs use с + Instrumental for the other person!
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