Breakdown of Внезапно они узнают друг друга.
они
they
друг друга
each other
внезапно
suddenly
узнавать
to find out (learn) / recognize
Questions & Answers about Внезапно они узнают друг друга.
Why is there no -ва- in узнают if the infinitive is узнавать?
Verbs ending in -знавать, -давать, and -ставать drop the -ва- suffix when conjugated in the present tense. Because of this rule, the expected but incorrect form узнавают drops the suffix and becomes узнают.
Could узнают also mean "they will recognize"?
In written Russian, yes! The perfective verb узнать conjugates as узна́ют in the future tense, with the stress on the а. The imperfective verb in this sentence, узнавать, conjugates as узнаю́т in the present tense, with the stress on the ю. When reading without stress marks, you have to rely on context to tell them apart.
Why does the phrase for "each other" end in -а (друг друга)?
The Russian phrase for "each other" is made of two halves. The first half always stays in the dictionary form (друг), but the second half changes to match the case required by the verb. Узнавать requires a direct object in the accusative case. Since they are recognizing people, the animate accusative form of друг is друга.
I usually see узнавать translated as "to find out." How do I know when it means "to recognize"?
It depends on what is being acted upon. If the object is a piece of information or news, it means "to find out." If the object is a person, a place, or a familiar thing (like друг друга here), it means "to recognize."
Learn Внезапно они узнают друг друга 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