Breakdown of Из-за засухи фермер должен поливать поле.
должен
must, have to (должен, должна, должны)
поле
field
фермер
farmer
из-за
because of; from behind
засуха
drought
поливать
to water
Questions & Answers about Из-за засухи фермер должен поливать поле.
Why do we use из-за here instead of потому что?
Потому что connects two full clauses with verbs, like 'because the drought started'. Из-за is a preposition meaning 'because of' and is followed directly by a noun. It specifically implies a negative or undesirable cause. If you wanted to express the opposite idea ('despite the drought'), you would use the concessive phrase несмотря на засуху, similar to the conjunction you are learning in this lesson.
Why is the word for drought spelled засухи instead of засуха?
The preposition из-за always requires the genitive case. Because of this rule, the feminine noun засуха drops its final -а and takes the genitive ending -и.
Why use the imperfective verb поливать rather than the perfective полить?
A drought implies a continuous or repeating problem, meaning the farmer must water the field regularly over a period of time. The imperfective поливать captures this ongoing, repetitive action, whereas the perfective полить would mean watering it just once to completion.
Is the word поле in the nominative case here?
No, it is actually in the accusative case because it is the direct object receiving the action of being watered. However, because поле is a neuter, inanimate noun, its accusative form looks exactly the same as its nominative dictionary form.
How would должен change if we were talking about a female farmer or multiple farmers?
Должен (must / obliged to) behaves like a short-form adjective, meaning it changes its ending to match the gender and number of the subject. For a female farmer, it becomes должна, and for plural farmers, it becomes должны.
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