Breakdown of Где моя отвёртка? Она мне очень нужна.
где
where / wherever
она
she / it (for a feminine noun)
мой
my (мой, моя, моё) / mine
очень
very
мне
to me
нужен
needed (нужен, нужна, нужны)
отвёртка
screwdriver
Questions & Answers about Где моя отвёртка? Она мне очень нужна.
Why is it нужна and not нужен or нужно here?
The short adjective нужен must agree in gender and number with the thing that is needed (the subject of the sentence). Here, the subject is Она (referring to the feminine noun отвёртка), so we use the feminine form нужна.
Why does "I need" translate to мне instead of я?
In Russian, the construction for needing a specific object literally translates to "[The object] is necessary to me". Therefore, the person who needs something is put in the Dative case. Я (I) becomes мне (to me).
Since a screwdriver is an inanimate object ("it" in English), why do we use Она?
Russian pronouns must match the grammatical gender of the noun they replace, regardless of whether the object is alive. Since отвёртка ends in -а and is feminine, we must use the feminine pronoun Она to say "it".
Why is "really" translated as очень? Doesn't очень mean "very"?
Yes, очень literally means "very." However, in Russian, you don't typically say "really needed" or "strongly needed" in this everyday context; you say "very needed" (очень нужна). It is the most natural way to express "I really need it."
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