Word
Старый принтер постоянно ломался, а вчера сломался совсем.
Meaning
The old printer used to break down constantly, and yesterday it broke down completely.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Старый принтер постоянно ломался, а вчера сломался совсем.
а
and (contrastive)
старый
old
вчера
yesterday
принтер
printer
Questions & Answers about Старый принтер постоянно ломался, а вчера сломался совсем.
Why does the sentence use ломался in the first half but сломался in the second?
This is a classic example of how Russian verb aspects work! ломался is imperfective and is used here for a repeated, ongoing action in the past (постоянно). сломался is perfective, describing a single, completed event with a final result that happened вчера (yesterday).
The English translation says "and yesterday", so why does the Russian use а instead of и?
While и simply joins two similar facts, а introduces a slight contrast or a shift in the story. Here, it highlights the contrast between the printer's annoying ongoing habit (breaking down constantly) and the final, definitive event (breaking down for good).
Why do the verbs ломался and сломался end in -ся?
The -ся suffix makes these verbs intransitive, meaning the action happens to the subject itself rather than to an object. If you used ломал or сломал without the suffix, it would mean the printer broke something else. Adding -ся indicates that the printer itself broke down.
Doesn't совсем usually mean "at all"?