Breakdown of Завтра мы начнём рассылать письма по адресам.
мы
we
письмо
letter
завтра
tomorrow
адрес
address
по
along, around
начать
to begin (perfective)
рассылать
to send out
Questions & Answers about Завтра мы начнём рассылать письма по адресам.
Why do we use по адресам instead of just a standard directional preposition like в or на?
The preposition по followed by the Dative plural case (адресам) is used to express distribution. It implies sending the letters out "address by address" or distributing them among multiple different locations, rather than just moving them to a single collective destination.
What does the prefix рас- add to the verb рассылать?
The prefix рас- (or раз-) generally means spreading things apart or distributing them in multiple directions. Combined with the root for sending, рассылать specifically means to send out to various places or people. This pairs perfectly with the distributive meaning of по.
Why is начнём perfective but рассылать imperfective?
Начнём (we will start) is perfective because it focuses on a specific, singular event happening tomorrow: the exact moment of starting. However, phase verbs (verbs meaning to begin, continue, or finish) always require an imperfective infinitive. That is why we use рассылать: the action of sending the letters out will be an ongoing, continuous process once it starts.
What case is адресам and how is it formed?
It is in the Dative plural, which is required here by the preposition по. For most masculine nouns ending in a hard consonant like адрес, the Dative plural simply takes the ending -ам.
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