Breakdown of Рабочие протестуют из-за низких зарплат, но директор их штрафует.
они
they
директор
director
но
but
низкий
low
зарплата
salary
рабочий
worker
из-за
because of; from behind
протестовать
to protest
штрафовать
to fine
Questions & Answers about Рабочие протестуют из-за низких зарплат, но директор их штрафует.
Where do the verbs протестуют and штрафует come from, and why do they have a -у- in the middle?
They come from the infinitives протестовать (to protest) and штрафовать (to fine). As you are learning in this lesson, verbs ending in -овать drop the -ова- and replace it with -у- (or -ю-) in the present tense. So протестовать becomes протестуют (they protest) and штрафовать becomes штрафует (he/she fines).
Why does рабочие look like a plural adjective if it means 'the workers'?
The word рабочий literally translates to the adjective 'working', but it is widely used as a noun meaning 'worker'. Even though it acts as a noun in a sentence, it still changes its endings exactly like an adjective. That is why its plural form is рабочие.
What case is низких зарплат, and why is it used here?
It is in the genitive plural. The preposition из-за (meaning 'because of' in this context) always forces the noun and adjective that follow it to be in the genitive case. The nominative plural would be низкие зарплаты.
Could I put их after the verb, like директор штрафует их?
Yes, you can. Russian word order is very flexible. However, placing a short pronoun object before the verb (директор их штрафует) is extremely natural and common in everyday speech.
Learn Рабочие протестуют из-за низких зарплат, но директор их штрафует and more in Russian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free