Breakdown of Благодаря крепкой связи наша группа всегда объединяет старых друзей.
друг
friend
старый
old
наш
our (наш, наша, наше)
всегда
always
связь
connection
группа
group
благодаря
thanks to
крепкий
strong (sturdy, tough, concentrated)
объединять
to unite
Questions & Answers about Благодаря крепкой связи наша группа всегда объединяет старых друзей.
Why is друзей used here, and how does it relate to the irregular plural друзья?
The noun друг (friend) has an irregular plural, друзья (friends). Since the friends are the direct object of the verb объединяет (unites) and are living people (animate), we need the Accusative case. For animate plurals, the Accusative case perfectly matches the Genitive case. The Genitive/Accusative plural of друзья is the irregular form друзей.
Why is связи used instead of связь?
The preposition благодаря (thanks to) requires the following noun to be in the Dative case. The noun связь (bond, connection) is a feminine word ending in a soft sign. In the Dative case, this type of feminine noun takes the ending -и, giving us связи. The adjective крепкой (strong) is also in the Dative feminine form to match.
Why does the adjective старых end in -ых?
The adjective старых (old) modifies друзей, so it must match its case and number. Just like the noun, the adjective takes the Accusative animate plural form, which is identical to the Genitive plural. For adjectives, the standard Genitive plural ending is -ых.
Can I use благодаря for negative situations, like "thanks to the bad weather"?
No, Russian strictly uses благодаря for positive or helpful causes. If you want to say "due to" or "because of" for something negative, you should use the preposition из-за followed by the Genitive case instead.
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