Breakdown of Или мы найдём компромисс, или мы потеряем всё.
мы
we
найти
to find
или
or
потерять
to lose (perfective)
весь
all, the whole, everything, everyone (весь, вся, всё, все)
компромисс
compromise
Questions & Answers about Или мы найдём компромисс, или мы потеряем всё.
Why is there a comma before the second или?
In Russian, when you use a double coordinating conjunction like или ... или (either ... or) to connect two parts of a sentence, you must always place a comma before the second conjunction. This is a strict punctuation rule in Russian, even if English wouldn't use a comma there.
Why are we translating 'will find' and 'will lose' as just найдём and потеряем without using будем?
Both найти (to find) and потерять (to lose) are perfective verbs in this sentence. When you conjugate a perfective verb, it automatically expresses a completed action in the future tense. You only use the helper verb будем (we will) when forming the future tense with imperfective verbs.
We are finding a 'compromise', so it is the direct object. Why didn't the ending of компромисс change?
Компромисс is indeed in the accusative case here because it receives the action. However, for masculine nouns, only animate objects (like people and animals) change their endings in the accusative case. Since a compromise is inanimate, its accusative form looks exactly like its dictionary form.
Is всё (everything) also in the accusative case here?
Yes! Всё is the direct object of потеряем (we will lose). Because it functions as a neuter pronoun, its accusative form is identical to its nominative form, just like inanimate masculine and neuter nouns.
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