Breakdown of Новый закон не приносит обществу пользы.
не
not
новый
new
приносить
to bring
закон
the law
общество
society
польза
benefit, use
Questions & Answers about Новый закон не приносит обществу пользы.
Why is the word for benefit in the Genitive case (пользы) instead of the Accusative (пользу)?
This is the Genitive of negation, which is the main topic of this lesson! When a verb is negated with не, its direct object often changes from the Accusative to the Genitive case. This happens almost always with abstract nouns like польза (benefit).
Would it be wrong to use the Accusative case (пользу) in this sentence?
While you might occasionally hear the Accusative with negated verbs in casual speech, using the Genitive (пользы) is strongly preferred for abstract concepts. You should generally only keep the Accusative under negation for specific, physical objects (like saying you didn't bring a specific physical item).
Why is обществу in the Dative case here?
The Dative case marks the indirect object, or the recipient of the action. The verb приносить means to bring something to someone or something. Here, the law isn't bringing a benefit to society, so the neuter noun общество changes to its Dative form, обществу.
Why does the sentence use the imperfective verb приносит?
The imperfective aspect is used because this sentence describes a general, ongoing fact or state: the law generally brings no benefit. If you used a perfective form, it would focus on a single, completed result, usually meaning it will not bring a benefit on one specific occasion.
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