Breakdown of Как только мы закончим опрос, мы узнаем мнение нескольких респондентов.
мы
we
несколько
several
мнение
opinion
узнать
to find out, to learn
закончить
to finish (perfective)
как только
as soon as
респондент
respondent
опрос
survey / poll
Questions & Answers about Как только мы закончим опрос, мы узнаем мнение нескольких респондентов.
Why does the sentence use нескольких instead of the basic form несколько?
Нескольких is the genitive case form of несколько (several). Because we are saying "the opinion of several respondents," both the quantifier and the noun it modifies (респондентов) must be in the genitive case. While the basic form несколько forces the noun after it into the genitive plural, when the entire phrase needs a different case (like genitive, dative, instrumental, or prepositional), the word несколько declines with a plural adjective ending.
Why do we use the future tense (закончим) for "we finish" when English uses the present tense?
In English, we usually use the present tense after time phrases like "as soon as" or "when," even if the event hasn't happened yet. Russian is more literal with time: if the action will happen in the future, you must use the future tense. Both закончим (will finish) and узнаем (will find out) are perfective future verbs, showing they are completed actions that will happen later.
Why isn't мнение (opinion) changed into the accusative case, since it's the direct object of the verb?
It actually is in the accusative case! Мнение is an inanimate neuter noun. For neuter nouns, the accusative form is always exactly the same as the nominative form. It successfully functions as the direct object of узнаем without changing its spelling.
Could I just use когда (when) instead of как только?
You could use когда to simply mean "When we finish the survey...", but как только specifically translates to "As soon as". It emphasizes that the second action (мы узнаем) will happen immediately right after the first action (мы закончим) is completed.
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