Breakdown of Из-за дождя он обычно остаётся дома один.
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
дождь
rain
дома
at home
обычно
usually
из-за
because of; from behind
один
alone
оставаться
to stay / to remain (imperfective)
Questions & Answers about Из-за дождя он обычно остаётся дома один.
How does один mean "alone" in this sentence, and why is it in this exact form?
The word один literally means "one", but it is commonly used to mean "alone". Even though "alone" is an adverb in English, in Russian it behaves like an adjective that describes the subject. Since the subject here is он (masculine), we use the masculine singular form один. If the subject were a woman, it would be она обычно остаётся дома одна.
Why use из-за here for "because of" instead of another word?
Из-за is a preposition specifically used to say "because of [a noun]". It always takes the Genitive case, which is why дождь (rain) becomes дождя. It is very commonly used for weather, negative reasons, or external obstacles. You cannot use потому что here, because that means "because" and must be followed by a full phrase with a subject and a verb.
Why is the word for "home" дома and not в доме or домой?
Дома is a fixed adverb that specifically means "at home" to show a location. If you said в доме, it would sound like you are emphasizing being physically "inside the building". You also cannot use домой here, because that means "to home" and is only used with verbs of motion (like walking or driving home). Since he is staying in a fixed location, дома is the correct choice.
Why is the verb остаётся (stays) in the imperfective aspect?
The sentence includes the word обычно (usually). This tells us that staying home is a habitual, repeating action. In Russian, repeated actions always require an imperfective verb. If he were deciding to stay home alone just this one specific time, you would use the perfective verb form instead (он останется).
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