Breakdown of Благодаря двумстам граммам сахара этот пирог очень сладкий.
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
очень
very
сахар
sugar
сладкий
sweet
пирог
pie
грамм
gram
двести
two hundred
благодаря
thanks to
Questions & Answers about Благодаря двумстам граммам сахара этот пирог очень сладкий.
Why is the number "two hundred" written as двумстам here?
The preposition благодаря (thanks to) requires the Dative case. When declining hundreds like двести, both halves of the word change. The first part is the Dative of два (двум), and the second part is the Dative plural of сто (стам), making двумстам.
I thought numbers like 200 were followed by the Genitive plural. Why is it двумстам граммам instead of двумстам граммов?
That rule only applies when the number is in the Nominative or Accusative case (e.g., двести граммов). In all other cases, like the Dative used here, the number and the noun agree in case. Because the number is in the Dative, the noun must also be in the Dative plural (граммам).
Why is sugar in the Genitive case (сахара) instead of matching the Dative case like the grams?
Because it represents "grams of sugar." The phrase двумстам граммам acts as the core measurement in the Dative case, and сахара simply modifies it to tell us what substance is being measured.
Is благодаря used for any kind of "because of" or "thanks to"?
Благодаря is used specifically for positive or neutral outcomes, similar to "thanks to" in English. It literally comes from the verb благодарить (to thank), which also explains why it triggers the Dative case. If the pie were ruined because of the sugar, you would use из-за + Genitive instead.
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