Breakdown of Пятого мая 2000-го года они праздновали открытие музея и назначали встречу.
и
and
они
they
музей
museum
встреча
meeting
год
year
май
May
праздновать
to celebrate
пятый
fifth
открытие
opening
двухтысячный
two thousandth
назначать
to appoint
Questions & Answers about Пятого мая 2000-го года они праздновали открытие музея и назначали встречу.
Why are the day and month in the genitive case in Пятого мая?
To express that something happened on a specific date (on the fifth of May), Russian puts the ordinal number for the day (пятый becomes пятого) and the name of the month (май becomes мая) into the Genitive case.
How do you read 2000-го out loud, and why does it end in -го?
It is read as двухтысячного. The -го suffix tells you to use the Genitive case for the ordinal number, matching the Genitive noun года. This year is special: instead of combining multiple words like in 2023, the year 2000 is just one word (двухтысячный), so the whole word takes the Genitive ending.
Why does the sentence use the imperfective verbs праздновали and назначали?
These imperfective verbs are used to describe ongoing background actions in the past (they were in the process of celebrating and scheduling). If we wanted to focus on the completed result (they celebrated and successfully scheduled it), we would use the perfective verbs отпраздновали and назначили.
Why is музея in the Genitive case here?
It shows a connection between two nouns, translating to 'of the museum'. The word открытие (opening) is the direct object taking the Accusative case, and музея follows in the Genitive to complete the phrase открытие музея (the opening of the museum).
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