Breakdown of Директор назначил меня менеджером двадцатого ноября две тысячи двадцать первого года.
я
I
год
year
две
two (f)
директор
director
менеджер
manager
первый
first (1st)
ноябрь
November
двадцать
twenty
тысяча
thousand
двадцатый
twentieth
назначить
to appoint (perfective)
Questions & Answers about Директор назначил меня менеджером двадцатого ноября две тысячи двадцать первого года.
Why are двадцатого, ноября, первого, and года all in the Genitive case?
To say "on a specific date" in Russian, you put the entire date phrase into the Genitive case. The standard formula is: Genitive ordinal day plus Genitive month plus Genitive ordinal year. It translates literally to something like "of the twentieth of November of the two thousand twenty-first year."
Why do две тысячи двадцать stay in their base forms instead of taking the Genitive case like первого?
The year 2021 is a compound ordinal number (the "two thousand twenty-first" year). In Russian, only the very last word of a compound ordinal number changes its ending to match the case. Therefore, две тысячи двадцать remain uninflected, and only the final word первого takes the Genitive ending.
Why is the word for manager (менеджером) in the Instrumental case here?
The verb назначить (to appoint) requires the Instrumental case for the role or position someone is given. This is a common pattern: verbs dealing with professional roles, like working as someone or being elected to a position, trigger the Instrumental case.
Do I always have to include the word года at the end of a full date?
Yes, when expressing a specific year in a date, adding года (the Genitive form of год, meaning "year") is standard and expected. You are literally saying "of the year." In written Russian, it is very commonly abbreviated to just г.
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