Breakdown of Обычно мы работаем с пятьюдесятью клиентами и двадцатью партнёрами.
и
and
мы
we
работать
to work
обычно
usually
клиент
client
с
with (also со)
партнёр
partner
двадцать
twenty
пятьдесят
fifty
Questions & Answers about Обычно мы работаем с пятьюдесятью клиентами и двадцатью партнёрами.
Why does the number 50 look like пятьюдесятью here?
Пятьдесят (fifty) is a compound number made of two parts. When declining numbers from 50 to 80 in oblique cases like the instrumental, you must decline both halves of the word! So the first half пять becomes пятью, and the second half declines like the number ten (десятью), combining into пятьюдесятью.
Why does двадцать only change at the very end to become двадцатью?
Unlike the numbers 50-80, the numbers 11-30 are not treated as having two declinable halves. They decline exactly like regular feminine nouns ending in a soft sign (like вещь or тетрадь). To form the instrumental case of двадцать, you simply keep the soft sign and add -ю at the end.
Why are the nouns клиентами and партнёрами in the instrumental case? Shouldn't numbers like 50 and 20 take the genitive plural?
Numbers only force the following noun into the genitive case when the number itself is in the nominative or inanimate accusative. In all other cases (the oblique cases), the number and the noun must agree! Since the preposition с (with) requires the instrumental case, both the numbers (пятьюдесятью, двадцатью) and their nouns (клиентами, партнёрами) take the instrumental case.
Why do we need the preposition с here? Doesn't the instrumental case already mean 'with'?
A standalone noun in the instrumental case usually describes the tool or instrument used to do an action (like writing 'with a pen'). When you want to say 'together with' or 'alongside' people or objects, you must use the preposition с plus the instrumental case, which is why it is required here for working 'with' clients and partners.
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