Breakdown of Мы помогаем братьям и часто выручаем друзей.
и
and
брат
brother
мы
we
друг
friend
часто
often
помогать
to help
выручать
to help out
Questions & Answers about Мы помогаем братьям и часто выручаем друзей.
Why is the word for brothers братьям and not братам?
The noun брат has an irregular plural, братья. For nouns that form their plural with the -ья suffix, their oblique case endings retain the soft sign. Since the verb помогать requires the Dative case, we add the Dative plural ending to that stem, giving us братьям.
Why does друг become друзей here instead of другов?
The verb выручать (to help out) takes a direct object in the Accusative case. The noun друг has the irregular plural друзья. Because friends are animate (living beings), their Accusative plural matches their Genitive plural. The Genitive/Accusative plural of друзья is the highly irregular друзей.
Both verbs mean a form of helping, so why do they take different cases?
While their meanings are similar, they have different grammar rules. The verb помогать (to help) always requires the Dative case, which is why we say братьям. However, выручать (to help out / to rescue) takes the Accusative case, resulting in друзей.
The English translation says our brothers and our friends, but there are no words for our in the Russian sentence. Why?
In Russian, when you refer to doing something involving your own family, friends, or body parts, the possessive pronoun (like нашим or наших) is usually dropped because it feels redundant. It is naturally understood from the context of мы (we) that we are helping our own brothers and friends.
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