Breakdown of Рейс отменён из-за грозы.
рейс
flight (scheduled trip or route)
из-за
because of; from behind
гроза
thunderstorm
отменить
to cancel (pf)
Questions & Answers about Рейс отменён из-за грозы.
How do we know to use отменён here, and what type of word is it?
Отменён is a short-form past passive participle, meaning "canceled." We use the masculine singular form here because it describes the subject, рейс (flight), which is a masculine noun. Short-form participles are the standard way to express passive actions in Russian.
Where does the ё in отменён come from?
It is formed from the perfective verb отменить (to cancel). When forming past passive participles from verbs ending in -ить, the suffix becomes -ен- or -ён-. Because the stress falls on this suffix in the masculine short form, it is written and pronounced as ё.
Why can't I just use the normal past tense отменил?
Отменил is the active past tense meaning "he canceled." If you used it here (Рейс отменил...), it would literally mean the flight itself canceled something! To show that the flight was acted upon by someone else, you must use the passive participle отменён.
Why is it из-за грозы instead of потому что гроза?
Потому что (because) must be followed by a full clause with a subject and a verb. Since we are just using a noun phrase ("because of the thunderstorm"), we need the preposition из-за. Из-за is very common for negative external causes and always takes the genitive case, which is why гроза changes to грозы.
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