Breakdown of Мы беспокоимся о том, что это новая реальность.
это
this / it is
мы
we
новый
new
о
about (о, об, обо)
что
that (conjunction)
тот
that
беспокоиться
to worry (be concerned)
реальность
reality
Questions & Answers about Мы беспокоимся о том, что это новая реальность.
Why do we say о том, что instead of just что? English just uses "that".
In Russian, prepositions like о (about) cannot attach directly to a subordinate clause starting with что. To connect them, we use the pointing word то (that/the fact). Literally, you are saying "We are worrying about the fact that..."
Why is the pointing word in the form том?
The verb беспокоиться (to worry) requires the preposition о + the Prepositional case when you are talking about the topic of your worry. Том is the Prepositional case form of то.
Could I say за то, что instead of о том, что here?
You might hear both, but they have a slight difference in nuance. Беспокоиться о (plus Prepositional case) means to think or fret about a situation. Беспокоиться за (plus Accusative case) often implies fearing for someone's well-being or a specific outcome. Here, о том, что fits best as a general concern about this new state of affairs.
Why isn't новая реальность affected by the preposition о?
The comma before что acts like a grammatical wall between the two halves of the sentence. The preposition о only affects the pointing word то before the comma. The phrase это новая реальность is a brand new clause, so its words stay in the basic Nominative case.
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