Breakdown of Вместо фактов мы слышим одни обещания.
мы
we
слышать
to hear
вместо
instead of
один
only (one, alone)
факт
fact
обещание
promise
Questions & Answers about Вместо фактов мы слышим одни обещания.
Why is одни plural here if it comes from the word for "one"?
In this lesson, we see the plural forms of один used to mean "only" or "nothing but." Since обещания (promises) is plural, we use the plural form одни to say "only promises" or "nothing but promises."
Could I just use только instead of одни in this sentence?
Yes, you could say только обещания. However, using одни in this way gives a stronger emotional emphasis, conveying the frustrated feeling of hearing "nothing but" promises rather than just a neutral "only."
What case is одни обещания in, and why?
It is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of the verb слышим (we hear). Because обещание (promise) is an inanimate neuter noun, its plural accusative form looks exactly the same as its nominative form.
Why does фактов end in -ов?
The preposition вместо (instead of) always requires the noun following it to be in the genitive case. Here, фактов is the genitive plural form of the masculine noun факт.
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