Breakdown of Как только я увидел аварию около школы, я позвонил.
я
I
школа
school
около
near
авария
accident
увидеть
to see, to catch sight of (perfective)
позвонить
to call, to phone (perfective)
как только
as soon as
Questions & Answers about Как только я увидел аварию около школы, я позвонил.
Why is школы used instead of школа after около?
The preposition около (near/around) always requires the Genitive case. Since школа is a feminine noun ending in -а, its Genitive form ends in -ы, making it школы.
How does the phrase как только work in this sentence?
Как только translates to 'as soon as.' It is used to connect two events where the second happens immediately after the first. It is very common to see both verbs in the perfective aspect here, just like увидел (saw) and позвонил (called), because they are consecutive, completed actions.
Why is the word for accident spelled аварию here?
The word авария (accident) is the direct object of the verb увидел (saw), which means it must take the Accusative case. For feminine nouns ending in -ия, the Accusative ending changes to -ию.
Why isn't there an object after я позвонил?
In Russian, just like in English, the verb позвонить (to call by phone) can be used without mentioning exactly who you are calling if it is understood from the context, such as calling the police or an ambulance after seeing an accident.
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