Breakdown of Обратный путь не был безопасным.
не
not
быть
to be
путь
track / path (route, journey)
безопасный
safe (adjective)
обратный
return, backward
Questions & Answers about Обратный путь не был безопасным.
Why does путь look like a feminine noun but take masculine modifiers like обратный and был?
Путь is a special anomalous noun. Even though it ends in a soft sign (-ь) and its endings change mostly like a feminine 3rd-declension noun, its gender is actually masculine. That is why it pairs with the masculine adjective обратный and the masculine past-tense verb был.
Why is the word for 'safe' in the instrumental case (безопасным) instead of the nominative case (безопасный)?
In Russian, when describing what something was or will be, we usually put the describing adjective or noun in the instrumental case. Since this sentence uses the past-tense verb был, the adjective becomes безопасным to show this past state.
Does обратный only mean 'return' in the context of travel?
It generally means 'reverse' or 'opposite,' but in travel contexts like обратный путь (return trip) or обратный билет (return ticket), it translates to 'return'.
How is the word безопасным (safe) built?
It comes from the prefix без- (without) and the root опасн- (danger), which you might recognize from the word опасно (dangerous). Literally meaning 'without danger', this is a very common way Russian builds adjectives!
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