Breakdown of Мы сможем преодолеть любое препятствие на нашем пути.
мы
we
наш
our
на
on, at / by (transport) / to (a place) / to (in answer to)
любой
any
смочь
to manage to, to be able to (perfective)
путь
track / path (route, journey)
препятствие
the obstacle
преодолеть
to overcome
Questions & Answers about Мы сможем преодолеть любое препятствие на нашем пути.
Why does the masculine noun путь end in -и here instead of the usual prepositional ending -е?
The noun путь (way/path) is a special exception. Even though it is masculine, its endings follow the pattern of feminine nouns ending in a soft sign (like тетрадь) in almost all cases. In the prepositional case here (after на), it takes the ending -и, becoming на пути. Its only true masculine ending is in the instrumental case (путём).
If пути declines like a feminine noun, why do we use the masculine modifier нашем?
Because путь is still strictly a masculine noun, regardless of its unusual endings. Adjectives and pronouns that modify it must always take masculine endings. Here, нашем is the masculine prepositional form of наш (our), agreeing with the actual gender of путь.
Why are we using сможем instead of можем?
Сможем is the future tense of the perfective verb смочь (to be able to), while можем is the present tense of the imperfective мочь. Because the sentence is about the ability to complete an action in the future (overcoming the obstacle), we use the perfective future form.
What case is любое препятствие and why does it look like the dictionary form?
It is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of the verb преодолеть (to overcome). Since препятствие is an inanimate neuter noun, its accusative form is identical to its nominative form. Любое is the matching neuter accusative form of любой (any).
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