Breakdown of Из-за засухи мы поливали поле полтора месяца.
мы
we
месяц
month
поле
field
из-за
because of; from behind
полтора
one and a half [f. полторы, obl. полутора]
засуха
drought
поливать
to water
Questions & Answers about Из-за засухи мы поливали поле полтора месяца.
How does из-за relate to the concessive phrases we are currently learning?
While the current lesson focuses on несмотря на то, что (despite the fact that) for contrasting ideas, this sentence uses из-за (because of) to show a direct cause. It takes the genitive case (засухи). Из-за is typically used for negative causes, like a drought, making it the logical opposite of doing something despite a difficulty.
Why do we use the imperfective verb поливали instead of a perfective form?
We use the imperfective aspect because the sentence explicitly states the duration of the action (полтора месяца - for a month and a half). In Russian, whenever you state how long an ongoing action lasted, you must use an imperfective verb.
How does the grammar for полтора месяца (one and a half months) work?
Полтора is a unique numeral meaning 'one and a half'. When used in the nominative or accusative case (as it is here to show duration), it requires the noun to be in the genitive singular. The genitive singular of месяц is месяца. Note that for feminine nouns, the numeral changes to полторы.
Why doesn't the ending of поле (field) change here?
The word поле is the direct object being watered, so it needs to be in the accusative case. However, because it is an inanimate neuter noun, its accusative form looks exactly the same as its dictionary (nominative) form.
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