Questions & Answers about Мы передаём документы.
Why is the verb передаём and not something like "передаваём"?
The infinitive is передавать. Verbs ending in -давать (like the base verb давать, meaning "to give") are special: they drop the -ва- when conjugated in the present tense. Therefore, for мы (we), the ending is -ём, making it передаём.
This lesson is about polite requests. How would I change this sentence to say "We would like to hand over the documents"?
You would use the conditional phrase мы хотели бы (we would like). After that, you just add the infinitive of the verb. Because you are talking about completing a single action, you would use the perfective infinitive передать. The full request becomes: Мы хотели бы передать документы.
What case is документы in this sentence?
It is in the Accusative case because the documents are the direct object—the things being handed over. For inanimate plural nouns like документы, the Accusative case looks exactly the same as the Nominative (dictionary) form.
I recognize the verb давать (to give) inside передавать. What does the пере- part do?
The prefix пере- often adds the meaning of moving something "across," "transferring," or "doing something over." When added to the verb "to give," it creates the meaning "to hand over," "to pass (along)," or "to transmit."
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