Breakdown of Он вылез из-за куста.
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
из-за
because of; from behind
куст
the bush
вылезти
to crawl out (perfective)
Questions & Answers about Он вылез из-за куста.
Doesn't из-за usually mean "because of"? Why does it mean "from behind" here?
You are right that из-за often means "because of". However, its original spatial meaning is "from behind". You can usually tell them apart by context: if there is a verb of motion like вылез (crawled out), из-за almost always describes a physical movement from behind an object.
Why do we use из-за here instead of just от (from)?
Russian has specific prepositions for spatial origins. While от just means moving away from the side of something, из-за specifically means starting behind the object and moving out. He wasn't just standing next to the bush; he was hidden behind it.
What case does из-за require, and how does it affect the word for bush?
Compound prepositions starting with из- always take the Genitive case. The dictionary form for bush is куст, which is a masculine noun ending in a consonant. To form the Genitive, we add -а, making it куста.
How does the prefix in the verb вылез work with this sentence?
The verb вылез comes from вылезть (to crawl out or climb out). The prefix вы- means "out" or "exit". In Russian, verbs of motion with the вы- prefix pair very naturally with "out of" prepositions like из, из-за, or из-под to emphasize the starting point of the exit.