Breakdown of Изучаемое явление удивляет учёных.
изучать
to study
учёный
scientist, scholar
удивлять
to surprise
явление
phenomenon
Questions & Answers about Изучаемое явление удивляет учёных.
How exactly is the present passive participle Изучаемое formed from the verb изучать?
You start with the imperfective verb изучать (to study). Take the third-person plural 'they' form, which is изучают. Drop the -ют and add the present passive suffix -ем-. Finally, add the adjective ending that matches the noun it describes. Since явление is a neuter noun in the nominative case, you add -ое to get изучаемое.
The English translation says 'studied phenomenon'. Why do we use a present participle here instead of a past one?
In English, 'studied' can refer to something currently undergoing study or something already finished. In Russian, participles are strict about time. The present passive participle изучаемое means the phenomenon is currently being studied. If you used a past passive participle, it would imply the study was completely finished and is no longer ongoing.
Why does the noun for 'scientists' (учёных) look like it has an adjective ending?
The word учёный is an adjectival noun. It originally functioned as an adjective meaning 'learned' or 'scholarly,' but over time it became the standard noun for 'scientist.' Because of this, it declines exactly like an adjective. In this sentence, it takes the plural adjective ending -ых.
Why does учёных look like it is in the genitive case if it is the direct object of the verb удивляет?
It is actually in the accusative case! The verb удивлять (to surprise) takes a direct object in the accusative. However, because scientists are alive (animate), their accusative plural form perfectly matches their genitive plural form. For animate nouns and their matching adjectives, the accusative always copies the genitive.
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