Question 1

Why do we need с тем before что in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

The verb смириться (to come to terms / to make peace) requires the preposition с + the Instrumental case (meaning "with something"). But you cannot attach a что (that) clause directly to a preposition in Russian. You have to use a placeholder pronoun, то, and put it in the required case. The Instrumental case of то is тем, giving us с тем, что (literally "with that, that" or "with the fact that").

Question 2

Is there an easy way to remember the meaning of the verb смирился?

Accepted Answer

Yes! Look at the root: мир means "peace". Смириться literally means "to make peace with" or "to reconcile oneself with". The -ся ending shows that it is a reflexive verb, meaning you are reconciling yourself to the situation.

Question 3

Why is the adjective местная in the feminine form?

Accepted Answer

It modifies the noun особенность (feature/peculiarity). While nouns ending in a soft sign (-ь) can be masculine or feminine, nouns ending with the suffix -сть (like особенность, радость, or новость) are almost always feminine. Therefore, the adjective must be feminine to match.

Question 4

Since особенность is feminine, shouldn't это change to the feminine эта?

Accepted Answer

If you were saying "this feature", where "this" describes the noun directly, you would indeed use эта особенность. However, in this sentence, это is acting as a standalone pronoun meaning "this is" or "it is". When used to introduce or equate something with a noun ("this is a local feature"), это stays frozen in its neuter form regardless of the following noun's gender.

Я смирился с тем, что это местная особенность.

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