Турист осторожно обходит барьер и опасность.
The tourist carefully avoids the barrier and the danger.
Breakdown of Турист осторожно обходит барьер и опасность.
и
and
турист
tourist
осторожно
cautiously, with care
обходить
to go around (impf)
опасность
the danger
барьер
the barrier
Questions & Answers about Турист осторожно обходит барьер и опасность.
How does a verb of motion like обходит mean 'avoids'?
The prefix об- means moving around an obstacle. While it often means literally walking around something (like the physical барьер), it is frequently used metaphorically to mean 'avoiding' an abstract concept (like the опасность). The verb обходить covers both actions in this sentence!
Why don't we use a preposition with обходит?
When a verb of motion has the об- prefix to mean bypassing or going around something, it takes a direct object. You simply put the bypassed object in the accusative case without any preposition.
If барьер and опасность are the direct objects in the accusative case, why do they look just like their dictionary forms?
барьер is a masculine inanimate noun, and опасность is a feminine noun ending in a soft sign (-ь). For both of these specific noun types, the accusative case form is identical to the nominative (dictionary) form.
Why is the imperfective verb обходит used here instead of the perfective обойдёт?
The action is happening right now in the present tense. Perfective verbs like обойти cannot be used in the present tense because their non-past forms automatically create the future tense (meaning 'will avoid'). To say someone 'is avoiding' something right now, we must use the imperfective.
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