Breakdown of Несмотря на то, что начальник нас критикует, мы не игнорируем его советы.
не
not
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
мы
we
начальник
boss
совет
the advice
несмотря на то, что
despite the fact that
критиковать
to criticize
игнорировать
to ignore
Questions & Answers about Несмотря на то, что начальник нас критикует, мы не игнорируем его советы.
Why is the verb критикует spelled with a -у- instead of keeping the -ова- from its dictionary form?
The infinitive is критиковать. Verbs that end in -овать or -евать drop that suffix and replace it with -у- or -ю- when conjugating in the present tense. So, for the third-person singular (the boss), it becomes критикует, not "критиковает".
Does игнорируем follow the exact same rule as критикует?
Yes! The infinitive is игнорировать (to ignore). Just like критиковать, we drop the -ова- and add -у- before the standard first-person plural ending -ем, giving us мы не игнорируем.
Why is there a на то before что in the phrase несмотря на то, что?
In English we say "despite the fact that". In Russian, the preposition несмотря на (despite) needs to point at a noun object. Since the next part is a whole clause starting with что, Russian uses the pronoun то (in the accusative case) to bridge them together. It translates literally as "despite that, that...".
Why is советы plural if the English translation just says "advice"?
In English, "advice" is an uncountable noun, so we can't say "advices". In Russian, совет is a normal countable noun. Since the boss is likely giving multiple tips or recommendations, it naturally takes the plural form советы here.
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