Question 1

Why is несчастья in the genitive case here instead of the accusative?

Accepted Answer

The verb ждать (to wait for / to expect) takes the genitive case when you are waiting for or expecting something abstract, indefinite, or intangible (like "misfortune"). If you were waiting for a specific, tangible physical object or a specific person (like a train or your sister), you would use the accusative case.

Question 2

Doesn't ждать usually mean "to wait"? How do we know it means "expect" here?

Accepted Answer

In Russian, ждать covers both "to wait for" and "to expect." The context makes the difference clear. When paired with an abstract concept in the genitive case like несчастья (misfortune), it naturally translates to expecting an event or condition, rather than physically waiting around for an object to arrive.

Question 3

What is the dictionary form of несчастья, and how is it built?

Accepted Answer

The dictionary (nominative) form is the neuter noun несчастье (misfortune, disaster). It is simply the word счастье (happiness, luck) with the negative prefix не-. Because it's a neuter noun ending in -е, its genitive form changes the ending to -я.

Question 4

Why do we use the neuter это when примета (omen) is a feminine noun?

Accepted Answer

When you use "this is" to equate "this" with a noun, you always use the fixed neuter pronoun это as the subject, no matter the gender of the noun that follows. You would only use the feminine эта if "this" was acting as an adjective directly attached to the noun, as in the phrase эта плохая примета (this bad omen...).

Это плохая примета, мы ждём несчастья.

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