Breakdown of Чтобы приготовить вкусную пиццу, я делаю её с четырьмястами граммами сыра.
она
she / it (for a feminine noun)
я
I
вкусный
tasty
пицца
pizza
Questions & Answers about Чтобы приготовить вкусную пиццу, я делаю её с четырьмястами граммами сыра.
How do we get the form четырьмястами for "400"?
It's the instrumental case of 400 (четыреста), required by the preposition с (with). When declining hundreds in Russian, both halves of the word change. The first part (четыре) changes to its instrumental form четырьмя, and the second part (ста) becomes стами. Put them together, and you get четырьмястами.
I thought nouns after numbers take the genitive case. Why is it граммами (instrumental plural)?
The "numbers take the genitive" rule only applies when the number is in the nominative or inanimate accusative case (e.g., четыреста граммов). When the number is in an oblique case—meaning any other case, like the instrumental used here—the noun stops taking the genitive and instead matches the case of the number. So "with 400 grams" becomes с четырьмястами граммами (both are in the instrumental plural).
If the number is in the instrumental case, why is сыра in the genitive case?
сыра depends on the noun граммами, not on the number. It translates the "of" in "grams of cheese". When one noun modifies another to show amount or possession, the second noun goes into the genitive case, regardless of what case the first noun is in.
Why use Чтобы at the beginning instead of just starting with the verb приготовить?
In English, we can just say "To make..." to show purpose. In Russian, you cannot just start with an infinitive to express this. You must use the conjunction чтобы plus an infinitive to mean "in order to" do something.