Breakdown of Из-за пробки опоздавшие пассажиры купили новые билеты.
новый
new
билет
ticket
купить
to buy (perfective)
пассажир
passenger
из-за
because of; from behind
пробка
traffic jam
опоздать
to be late (perfective)
Questions & Answers about Из-за пробки опоздавшие пассажиры купили новые билеты.
How is the participle опоздавшие formed from the verb?
It comes from the perfective verb опоздать (to be late). To form the active past participle, you take the infinitive stem опозда-, add the suffix -вш-, and attach the plural nominative adjective ending -ие to match the subject пассажиры.
Could I just use которые to say 'who were late' instead?
Yes, you could say пассажиры, которые опоздали. Using participles like опоздавшие is a bit more formal and concise, but it is extremely common in written Russian and news reports.
Why does пробка change to пробки here?
The preposition из-за (because of) always takes the genitive case. Since пробка (traffic jam) is a feminine noun ending in -а, its genitive form ends in -и.
Doesn't the word пробка also mean 'cork'?
Exactly! пробка literally translates to 'cork' or 'plug'. It is used as a metaphor for a traffic jam, similar to how we say 'bottleneck' in English.
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