Мама разрешает нам гулять.

Breakdown of Мама разрешает нам гулять.

мама
mom
мы
we
гулять
to walk
разрешать
to allow, to permit

Questions & Answers about Мама разрешает нам гулять.

Why does this sentence use нам instead of нас?
The verb разрешать (to allow) requires the dative case for the person receiving the permission. Нам is the dative form of мы (we), so the sentence literally means Mum gives permission "to us".
Why do we use the imperfective verb гулять here instead of the perfective погулять?
When expressing general permission to do an activity, Russian uses the imperfective aspect. Mum is allowing the general action of going for walks, rather than focusing on one specific, completed walk.
How does the aspect of гулять relate to the lesson's rules on commands and prohibitions?
While this sentence isn't a command, it follows a similar logic. In this lesson, you learned that telling someone NOT to do something (prohibition) uses the imperfective aspect because you are referring to the action in general. Similarly, giving general permission to do an action also takes the imperfective (гулять), focusing on the ongoing activity itself rather than a one-time perfective result.

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