Breakdown of Эта машина — гибрид, который совмещает преимущества обеих систем.
машина
car
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
который
which / who / that (relative pronoun)
система
system
обе
both (f)
преимущество
advantage
гибрид
the hybrid
совмещать
to combine
Questions & Answers about Эта машина — гибрид, который совмещает преимущества обеих систем.
Why do we use обеих here instead of обоих?
The word it modifies, систем (systems), comes from the feminine noun система. The word for "both" has distinct forms for feminine nouns. In the genitive case, masculine and neuter nouns use обоих, but feminine nouns must use обеих.
Why are обеих систем in the genitive case?
The genitive case is used here to mean "of". The sentence is talking about the advantages of both systems.
Why is the relative pronoun который (which/that) masculine when the sentence is about a car (машина), which is feminine?
The pronoun который always matches the gender of the specific noun it refers back to. Here, it refers to the noun immediately preceding it: the masculine noun гибрид (hybrid). Grammatically, it is the hybrid that is doing the combining!
Is преимущества singular or plural here?
It is plural. The base word преимущество (advantage) is a neuter noun. Neuter nouns form their nominative and accusative plurals by changing the final -о to -а. Here, it acts as the direct object of the verb совмещает (combines), so it is in the accusative plural.
What is the dash doing after машина?
In Russian, the present tense of the verb "to be" (is/are) is almost always omitted. When you equate one noun to another noun in the nominative case (like "car is hybrid"), you use a dash in writing to replace that missing verb.
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