Breakdown of Вчера мы познакомились с Анной Ивановой.
мы
we
Анна
Anna
вчера
yesterday
с
with (also со)
познакомиться
to get acquainted, to meet
Иванов
Ivanov
Questions & Answers about Вчера мы познакомились с Анной Ивановой.
Why does the surname Ivanova become Ивановой here?
In this sentence, the preposition с (with) requires the instrumental case. The base female surname is Иванова. Female surnames ending in -ова, -ева, and -ина decline just like adjectives. Therefore, the -а ending changes to -ой, giving us Ивановой.
Since Анна and Иванова both end in -а and both take the -ой ending here, do they follow the exact same declension rules?
Actually, no! While they look identical in the instrumental case (Анной Ивановой), Анна declines as a standard feminine noun, while the surname Иванова declines as a feminine adjective. You can see the difference in other cases. For example, in the dative case (to Anna Ivanova), it would be Анне Ивановой.
The English translation is 'We met Anna'. Why is the preposition с (with) used in the Russian sentence?
The Russian verb познакомиться specifically means 'to get acquainted'. In Russian, you get acquainted with someone. Because of this, познакомиться must always be followed by с plus a noun in the instrumental case.
Could we use the imperfective verb знакомились instead of the perfective познакомились here?
It would sound unnatural. Meeting someone for the first time is a single, completed action with a lasting result (you are now acquaintances). The perfective verb познакомились perfectly captures this one-time result, which is why it is almost always used when talking about being introduced to a new person.
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