Question 1

Why is согласен used here instead of a regular verb for "agrees"?

Accepted Answer

In Russian, "to agree" is frequently expressed with the short-form adjective согласен (literally "in agreement"). Because it is an adjective, it doesn't conjugate like a verb; instead, it changes its ending based on the gender and number of the subject.

Question 2

How does согласен affect the case of the words that follow it?

Accepted Answer

The adjective согласен is almost always followed by the preposition с (with), which requires the Instrumental case. That is why the sentence uses нами, the Instrumental form of the pronoun мы (we).

Question 3

If the director were female, would the sentence change?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Even though the noun директор is grammatically masculine and usually stays the same, you use feminine agreement for verbs and adjectives if the person is a woman. The short-form adjective would change to match her: Директор согласна с нами.

Question 4

How would I change this sentence to the past tense ("The director agreed with us")?

Accepted Answer

Because согласен is an adjective, you just add the past tense of the verb "to be". For a masculine subject, you add был, making the sentence: Директор был согласен с нами.

Директор согласен с нами.

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