Breakdown of Ты сам удивляешься, что они завидуют успешному менеджеру.
ты
you (singular)
они
they
что
that (conjunction)
менеджер
manager
успешный
successful
сам
oneself (сам, сама, само, сами)
удивляться
to be surprised
завидовать
to envy
Questions & Answers about Ты сам удивляешься, что они завидуют успешному менеджеру.
Why isn't there a Dative case noun right after удивляешься if that's what the current lesson is about?
Good catch! While удивляться (to be surprised) takes the Dative when it's followed directly by a noun (like удивляться менеджеру - to be surprised by the manager), here it is followed by a completely new clause starting with что (that). When you connect a full clause, you just link them directly without needing the Dative case.
Why is the target of the envy, успешному менеджеру, in the Dative case?
The verb завидовать (to envy) strictly requires the person or thing being envied to be in the Dative case. Even though we just use a direct object in English ("envy the manager"), Russian treats it more like projecting your envy towards the manager.
If I am saying this to a female friend, does сам change?
Why does the verb завидуют look so different from its infinitive завидовать?
This is a classic -овать verb. As a quick refresher: whenever a verb ends in -овать, that chunk changes into -у- in the present tense. That is why завидовать drops the -ова- and adds the "they" ending to become завидуют.
Learn Ты сам удивляешься, что они завидуют успешному менеджеру and more in Russian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free