Breakdown of Хотя у меня есть смартфон, я редко использую новые технологии.
я
I
новый
new
у
at, by
есть
is, there is, to have
редко
rarely
хотя
although
использовать
to use (+ accusative)
технология
the technology
смартфон
the smartphone
Questions & Answers about Хотя у меня есть смартфон, я редко использую новые технологии.
Since this lesson is about благодаря, could I use it here instead of хотя?
You could, but it completely changes the meaning and the grammar! Хотя means 'although' and introduces a contrast. If you used благодаря, the sentence would express a positive cause (thanks to...). Also, благодаря requires the Dative case, so you would have to say Благодаря моему смартфону... instead of using the у меня есть (I have) construction.
Why does the verb использую look so different from its infinitive использовать?
Verbs ending in -овать or -евать drop the -ов- or -ев- and replace it with -у- in all present tense forms. So использовать (to use) becomes я использую, ты используешь, and so on.
What case is новые технологии in this sentence? It looks exactly like the Nominative case.
It is actually in the Accusative case because it is the direct object of the verb использую (I use). However, for inanimate nouns (things, not people or animals), the Accusative plural form is identical to the Nominative plural form.
Is the comma after смартфон strictly necessary?
Yes! In Russian, you must separate clauses with a comma. Because the sentence contains two distinct subject-verb pairs—смартфон есть (a smartphone exists) and я использую (I use)—a comma is required to separate the Хотя clause from the main clause.
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