Breakdown of Он признался себе в том, что боится собак.
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
собака
dog
в
in / to (direction)
что
that (conjunction)
тот
that
себя
oneself (себе: Dat/Prep)
бояться
to be afraid
признаться
to admit (confess)
Questions & Answers about Он признался себе в том, что боится собак.
Why do we need в том before что in this sentence?
The verb признаться (to admit/confess) requires the preposition в + Prepositional case to state what is being admitted. Because you cannot attach a preposition directly to a что clause in Russian, we use the pronoun то as a grammatical bridge. We put то in the Prepositional case (в том) and then follow it with что.
Why is боится in the present tense if he 'admitted' it in the past?
Russian doesn't shift tenses backward in reported speech like English does. In English, we say 'he admitted that he WAS afraid'. In Russian, you use the tense from the perspective of the original moment. When he admitted it, the reality in his head was 'I AM afraid', so the subordinate clause keeps the present tense боится.
Why is the word for dogs (собак) in the Genitive case here?
The verb бояться (to fear / to be afraid of) always requires its object to be in the Genitive case. собак is the Genitive plural form of собака.
Why does the sentence use себе instead of ему for 'to himself'?
себе is the Dative form of the reflexive pronoun себя (oneself). It always points back to the subject of the sentence (in this case, Он). If you used ему, it would mean he admitted it to a completely different male person.
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