Breakdown of На заседании мы говорили о новом отделении.
мы
we
новый
new
говорить
to speak, to talk
на
on, at / by (transport) / to (a place) / to (in answer to)
о
about (о, об, обо)
заседание
session
отделение
department (branch, ward)
Questions & Answers about На заседании мы говорили о новом отделении.
Why do both заседании and отделении end in -ии instead of the usual -е for the prepositional case?
They both come from neuter nouns ending in -ие in their dictionary forms (заседание and отделение). As a special rule, nouns ending in -ия, -ие, and -ий take -ии in the prepositional case instead of the standard -е.
Why do we use the preposition на before заседании instead of в?
In Russian, events, activities, and gatherings (like a meeting, concert, or lesson) take the preposition на to mean "at" or "in". Since a заседание (session or meeting) is an organized event rather than a physical container, it takes на.
If отделении has a special ending, why does the adjective новом just have a standard ending?
The special -ии ending only applies to the noun itself. Adjectives modifying these nouns still follow the regular declension rules. Отделение is neuter, so in the prepositional case, the adjective новый takes the standard neuter prepositional ending -ом, becoming новом.
Why use the imperfective verb говорили here instead of a perfective verb like сказали?
Говорили emphasizes the continuous process of discussing or having a conversation. Сказали means "said" or "told" (a single, completed action) and wouldn't fit well here. You could use the perfective поговорили, but that usually implies a shorter, completed action like "we had a quick chat".
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