Questions & Answers about Братья никогда не предают братьев.
Why does the word for brothers change from Братья at the start to братьев at the end?
Братья is the subject of the sentence (Nominative plural). The second group of brothers is the direct object receiving the action, which requires the Accusative case. Because brothers are animate (living beings), the Accusative plural takes the exact same form as the Genitive plural: братьев. This is the irregular declension pattern for plural nouns ending in -ья.
The infinitive for to betray is предавать. Why is the form here предают instead of предавают?
Verbs ending in -давать, -знавать, and -ставать drop the -ва- syllable when conjugated in the present tense. Therefore, предавать becomes я предаю, он предаёт, and for the plural they form in this sentence, они предают.
Why are there two negative words (никогда and не) next to each other?
Russian requires a double negative. When you use a negative word like никогда (never), никто (nobody), or ничего (nothing), you must still put не (not) immediately before the verb. Unlike in English, it does not cancel out to make a positive meaning.
Why use the imperfective verb предают rather than its perfective counterpart?
The sentence expresses a general, timeless truth and describes a habitual situation (reinforced by the word никогда). In Russian, stating general facts, rules, or repeating actions always requires the imperfective aspect.
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