Question 1

Why does the sentence use the Dative case мне instead of the Accusative меня for "me"?

Accepted Answer

The verb угрожать (to threaten) is a verb of communication that directly governs the Dative case without a preposition. Think of it as directing a threat to someone, which is why it is угрожал мне.

Question 2

How do we form the "if [x], I would [y]" structure used here?

Accepted Answer

To talk about hypothetical or unreal situations, Russian uses the particle бы with the past tense in both halves of the sentence. The condition uses если бы + past tense (угрожал), and the result uses бы + past tense (я бы отомстил).

Question 3

Why is угрожал imperfective, while отомстил is perfective?

Accepted Answer

Угрожал is imperfective because the threatening is viewed as a general action or ongoing behavior. Отомстил is perfective because taking revenge is envisioned as a single, decisive, and completed reaction.

Question 4

If I wanted to say "I would take revenge on him," how would that work with отомстить?

Accepted Answer

The verb отомстить (to take revenge) also requires the Dative case without a preposition. To add "on him," you would simply use the Dative pronoun ему and say я бы отомстил ему.

Если бы он угрожал мне, я бы отомстил.

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