Breakdown of На собрании присутствовали одни члены клуба.
на
on, at / by (transport) / to (a place) / to (in answer to)
собрание
meeting (assembly, formal gathering)
присутствовать
to be present
один
only (one, alone)
член
member
клуб
club
Questions & Answers about На собрании присутствовали одни члены клуба.
Why does одни translate to "only" here? Doesn't it usually mean "alone" or "some"?
While the singular один usually means "one," its plural form одни can indeed mean "alone" or "some." However, when placed before a noun like this, одни translates to "only" or "nothing but." It strongly emphasizes that the group consisted entirely of club members, with no outsiders. You could also use только, but одни sounds very natural in this context.
Why do we use на instead of в for "at the meeting"?
Events, gatherings, and organized activities in Russian usually take the preposition на rather than в. Because a meeting (собрание) is an event you participate in rather than a physical structure you enter, it requires на along with the Prepositional case.
Why does собрании end in two и's? Shouldn't the Prepositional case usually end in -е?
Normally, yes! But the dictionary form of this noun is собрание. Nouns ending in -ие (as well as -ия and -ий) follow a special rule. In the Prepositional case, their ending changes to -ии instead of the standard -е.
What is the dictionary form of присутствовали, and how is it used?
The infinitive is присутствовать (to be present, to attend). It is always followed by на plus the Prepositional case to state where someone is present. As a helpful memory trick, it is the exact opposite of отсутствовать (to be absent).
Why is the word клуба in the Genitive case?
It acts as the word "of" does in English. The phrase члены клуба literally translates to "members of the club." The Genitive case is used here to link the two nouns and show that the members belong to the club.
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