Breakdown of Она всегда навязывает эти правила своим друзьям.
она
she / it (for a feminine noun)
друг
friend
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
всегда
always
правило
rule
свой
one's own
навязывать
to impose
Questions & Answers about Она всегда навязывает эти правила своим друзьям.
Why use своим here instead of её for 'her'?
In Russian, when the subject of the sentence (here, Она) is also the 'owner' of the object, you must use the reflexive possessive pronoun свой. If you said её друзьям, a Russian speaker might think she is imposing rules on some other woman's friends.
Why is своим друзьям in the Dative case?
The verb навязывать (to impose or force upon) requires the Dative case for the person receiving the action. You are essentially imposing something to someone. For plural nouns, свой takes the Dative plural ending -им, making it своим.
Are эти правила in the Nominative or Accusative case here?
They are in the Accusative case because they are the direct object being imposed. Since правило (rule) is an inanimate neuter noun, its Accusative plural form looks exactly the same as its Nominative plural form.
What is the perfective form of навязывать and why isn't it used here?
The perfective form is навязать. However, the word всегда (always) tells us this is a repeated, habitual action. In Russian, habitual actions always require the imperfective aspect, which is why we use навязывает.
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