Breakdown of Я не знаю того, кто может победить это чудовище.
не
not
кто
who / whoever
я
I
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
знать
to know
мочь
to be able to
тот
that
победить
to defeat / to win
чудовище
monster
Questions & Answers about Я не знаю того, кто может победить это чудовище.
Why is it того, кто instead of just тот, кто?
The phrase тот, кто (the one who) splits into two halves, each taking the case required by its own part of the sentence. In the main clause, Я не знаю requires a direct object. Since the person is animate, the accusative of тот is того. In the second half, кто is the subject of может, so it stays in the nominative case.
Could того also be in the genitive case here because of the negated verb не знаю?
Yes! Negated verbs in Russian often take the genitive case instead of the accusative for their direct object. Conveniently, for animate masculine pronouns like тот, the accusative and genitive forms are exactly the same (того), so the word form is correct either way you look at it.
Why doesn't это чудовище change its ending if it is the direct object of победить?
The word чудовище (monster) is a neuter noun. For neuter nouns, the accusative case is identical to the nominative case. Therefore, это чудовище is already in the accusative case here, even though it looks just like the dictionary form.
Why is the perfective verb победить used here after может?
We use the perfective победить because the sentence refers to a single, complete action with a successful result (actually defeating the monster once). If we used an imperfective verb, it would imply being in the process of fighting or repeatedly defeating it.
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