Breakdown of Машина ехала навстречу автобусу.
машина
car
ехать
to go (by vehicle)
автобус
bus
навстречу
towards
Questions & Answers about Машина ехала навстречу автобусу.
Why is the word автобусу in the Dative case?
The preposition навстречу (towards) always takes the Dative case. It is one of the specific spatial prepositions you are learning in this lesson.
I know that the preposition к also means 'towards' and takes the Dative case. How is навстречу different here?
While к автобусу just means the car was driving in the general direction of the bus, навстречу автобусу implies a head-on trajectory. It usually means the two objects are moving towards each other, so the car and the bus are likely about to cross paths.
Why is навстречу written as one word here? I have seen на встречу written as two words before.
When written as one word, навстречу is a spatial preposition meaning 'towards'. If it were two words, на встречу, it would literally mean 'to a meeting' using the preposition на plus the Accusative noun встречу.
Why use the imperfective verb ехала instead of a perfective verb like поехала?
The word ехала describes an ongoing process in the past, which translates well to 'was driving'. It sets the scene. If you used the perfective поехала, it would mean the car 'set off' or 'started driving' towards the bus.
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