Breakdown of Я не чувствую уважения к этому человеку.
не
not
я
I
человек
person
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
чувствовать
to feel
к
towards, to
уважение
respect
Questions & Answers about Я не чувствую уважения к этому человеку.
Why is уважения in the Genitive case here instead of the Accusative case?
This is the genitive of negation, which is the focus of this lesson. When a transitive verb is negated (like не чувствую), its direct object often takes the Genitive case instead of the Accusative. This is especially common with abstract nouns like уважение (respect) to emphasize a complete lack of that thing.
Would it be wrong to say Я не чувствую уважение using the Accusative case?
It wouldn't be strictly wrong, as modern Russian often allows the Accusative case even with negated verbs. However, for abstract concepts like respect, time, or joy, the Genitive case (уважения) is strongly preferred because it highlights the total absence of the feeling.
Why do we use the preposition к and what case follows it?
The phrase uses к этому человеку which is in the Dative case. The preposition к always requires the Dative. In Russian, when you have a feeling towards or for someone, like respect (уважение к) or interest (интерес к), you use к + Dative, even though in English we usually say respect for.
Why is the pronoun этому used instead of этом?
Этому is the Dative masculine singular form of этот (this), which must match the masculine noun человеку. Learners sometimes mix this up with этом, but этом is the Prepositional case form, which would only be used after prepositions like о or в, never after к.
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