Breakdown of Учитель часто подсказывает студентам.
студент
student (m)
учитель
teacher
часто
often
подсказывать
to prompt
Questions & Answers about Учитель часто подсказывает студентам.
Why is студентам in the Dative case instead of the Accusative?
In English, we say "prompts the students" with a direct object. However, in Russian, verbs of assistance or giving a hint, like подсказывать, require the Dative case without any prepositions. You can think of it as giving a hint to the students.
Does подсказывать only mean "to prompt"?
It translates well to "prompt" in this sentence, but its everyday meaning is "to give a hint", "to help out with an answer", or even "to whisper the answer". In Russian schools and universities, подсказывать is the classic word for feeding a classmate the correct answer when they are struggling during a lesson.
Is there a way to break down the word подсказывать to remember it better?
Yes! It combines the prefix под- (which can imply "under" or "secretly") with a root related to сказать (to say/tell). So literally, it's like "saying under the radar" or "quietly telling" someone the answer.
Could we use the perfective verb подсказать in this sentence?
No, because the word часто (often) tells us this is a repeated, habitual action. Habitual actions always require the imperfective aspect, which is why we must use подсказывает here instead of its perfective pair подскажет.
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