Breakdown of Рейс задержали из-за тумана.
рейс
flight (scheduled trip or route)
из-за
because of; from behind
туман
fog
задержать
to delay (pf)
Questions & Answers about Рейс задержали из-за тумана.
Why is из-за used here instead of потому что?
Из-за means "because of" or "due to" and is followed by a noun in the Genitive case, like тумана. It specifically points to an external or negative cause. You cannot use потому что here because it must be followed by a full clause with a subject and a verb, not just a single noun.
The English translation is "The flight was delayed," but задержали is active and plural. Why?
In Russian, it is very common to use the third-person plural verb (like задержали, meaning "they delayed") without the pronoun они to express a passive action. It literally means "[Unspecified people] delayed the flight," which is the most natural way to say "The flight was delayed."
Is рейс in the Nominative case here since it is at the start of the sentence?
No, рейс is actually in the Accusative case because it is the direct object being acted upon (they delayed what? the flight). Because рейс is an inanimate masculine noun, its Accusative form looks exactly the same as its dictionary (Nominative) form.
How does the word тумана get its ending?
The preposition из-за always requires the noun that follows it to be in the Genitive case. The dictionary form is туман (fog), which is a masculine noun ending in a hard consonant. To make it Genitive, you simply add -а.
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