Breakdown of Смотря фильм, студентка выписывала фразы и делала заметки.
и
and
студентка
student (f)
фильм
movie
делать
to do
смотреть
to watch / to look at / make sure (in a warning)
фраза
phrase
выписывать
to write out
заметка
the note
Questions & Answers about Смотря фильм, студентка выписывала фразы и делала заметки.
How is the word смотря formed and what does it tell us?
Смотря is an imperfective verbal adverb (meaning "while watching"). You form it by taking the "they" form of the present tense verb (смотрят), dropping the ending, and adding -я. It tells us this action was happening at the exact same time as the main actions in the sentence.
Does a verbal adverb phrase always need a comma?
Yes! In Russian, phrases built around a verbal adverb like смотря must always be separated from the rest of the sentence by commas. Here, the comma after фильм isolates the verbal adverb phrase from the main clause.
Could I say "Смотря фильм, фильм был интересным" (While watching the film, the film was interesting)?
No, that is a common mistake! A strict rule in Russian is that the verbal adverb and the main verb must share the exact same subject. In our example, the студентка is the one doing both the watching and the writing. The film cannot be the subject of the main clause if someone else is doing the watching.
What is the difference between выписывала and simply писала?
Adding the prefix вы- (which often means "out") to писать (to write) changes the meaning to "to write out" or "to extract". She wasn't just writing generally; she was specifically copying down phrases from the film.
Why are the main verbs выписывала and делала in the imperfective aspect?
Because the sentence describes ongoing, continuous actions. The student was in the process of taking notes over a period of time, parallel to the ongoing action of watching the film. There is no focus on her completing these actions in a single, finished instance.
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