Breakdown of Когда звонит будильник, я встаю и забываю свой кошмар.
и
and
я
I
звонить
to call
забывать
to forget
когда
when
свой
one's own
вставать
to get up
будильник
alarm clock
кошмар
nightmare
Questions & Answers about Когда звонит будильник, я встаю и забываю свой кошмар.
Why is the verb "to get up" conjugated as встаю instead of "вставаю"?
The infinitive is вставать, but it belongs to a special group of verbs ending in -ставать (along with -давать and -знавать). When these verbs are conjugated in the present tense, they completely drop the -ва- suffix. So, it becomes я встаю, ты встаёшь, and so on.
If вставать drops the -ва-, why does забывать keep it to become забываю?
The drop rule is very specific! It only applies to verbs with the exact endings -давать, -знавать, and -ставать. The verb забывать (to forget) ends in -бывать. Since it doesn't fit into those three specific groups, it conjugates like a completely regular verb ending in -ать: я забываю, ты забываешь.
Could I say мой кошмар instead of свой кошмар?
Yes, but свой is much more natural here. Свой is a reflexive possessive pronoun that refers back to the subject of the clause. Since the subject is я (I) and the nightmare belongs to that same "I", Russian strongly prefers свой over мой.
Why doesn't the word кошмар change its ending, since it is the direct object?
Кошмар is indeed the direct object here, meaning it is in the accusative case. However, because it is a masculine, inanimate noun (a non-living thing), its accusative form is identical to its dictionary (nominative) form.
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