Breakdown of Эти христиане пошли в собор.
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
в
in / to (direction)
пойти
to go (perfective, on foot) / to start (of rain, snow)
собор
cathedral
христианин
Christian
Questions & Answers about Эти христиане пошли в собор.
Why is the plural of христианин written as христиане instead of adding a regular plural ending?
Nouns for people that end in -анин or -янин (like nationalities, social classes, or religious groups) have a special plural rule. They drop the -ин suffix and add -е. So, христианин becomes христиане.
Why use the verb пошли rather than шли or ходили?
пошли is a perfective verb of motion. It focuses on the start of the action or a successful departure, meaning they set off or left for the cathedral. шли would mean they were in the middle of walking there, and ходили would mean they went there and already came back.
Why is собор in the accusative case here rather than the prepositional?
The preposition в takes the accusative case when it indicates motion toward a destination (answering where to?). It only takes the prepositional case to describe location (answering where at?). Since собор is a masculine inanimate noun, its accusative form looks exactly like its nominative form.
Why do we use Эти instead of Это at the start of the sentence?
Эти is the plural form of the demonstrative pronoun этот (this/these). Because христиане is a plural noun, the pronoun must agree with it. You would only use Это as a standalone subject meaning this is or with singular neuter nouns.
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