Breakdown of Я нашёл их визитки около её флешки.
я
I
их
their
найти
to find
около
near
её
her (possessive)
флешка
the flash drive
визитка
the business card
Questions & Answers about Я нашёл их визитки около её флешки.
Why don't их and её change their endings to match the cases of визитки and флешки?
Unlike other possessive pronouns like мой or наш, the third-person possessives его, её, and их are indeclinable. This means they never change their form, no matter the gender, number, or case of the noun they describe.
What case is визитки in, and why?
It is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of the verb нашёл. Since визитка is an inanimate noun, its accusative plural form looks exactly the same as its nominative plural form. The pronoun их simply stays in its fixed form right before it.
Why does флешка change to флешки at the end of the sentence?
The preposition около requires the noun following it to be in the genitive case. Since флешка is a feminine noun ending in -а, it changes to -и in the genitive singular. Because её is indeclinable, it ignores this rule and stays exactly the same.
I thought we had to add an н- to third-person pronouns after prepositions. Why isn't it около неё флешки?
That rule only applies when they are used as personal pronouns, for example, saying около неё to mean "near her". In this sentence, её is a possessive pronoun meaning "her flash drive". Possessive pronouns never take the added н- after a preposition.
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