Breakdown of Студент сделал ошибку, ему нужен ластик.
студент
student (m)
ошибка
mistake
сделать
to do (perfective) / to make (perfective)
ему
to him, to it
нужен
needed (short form)
ластик
eraser
Questions & Answers about Студент сделал ошибку, ему нужен ластик.
Why does this sentence use нужен instead of the neutral нужно?
The word for "need" here is a short adjective that must agree in gender and number with the thing being needed. The needed item is ластик (eraser), which is a masculine noun. Therefore, the masculine form нужен is used.
Why is "he needs" translated using ему instead of он?
When using the short adjective нужен to say someone needs something, the person who needs it must be in the dative case. Ему is the dative form of он (he). The literal structure is "to him is necessary an eraser".
Why does the word for mistake, ошибка, end in -у here?
It is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of the verb сделал (made). For singular feminine nouns ending in -а, the accusative ending becomes -у.
Why is the perfective verb сделал used instead of the imperfective делал?
The perfective aspect is used here to focus on the completed result of the action. The student made a single, specific mistake that is now an established fact, which is exactly why he currently needs an eraser.
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