Breakdown of Хороший сон даёт нам здоровье.
мы
we
хороший
good
давать
to give (imperfective)
здоровье
health
сон
dream (while sleeping) / sleep
Questions & Answers about Хороший сон даёт нам здоровье.
Why is the verb даёт? Shouldn't давать become "давает" in the present tense?
This is the exact rule you are learning right now! Verbs ending in -давать, -знавать, and -ставать drop the -ва- suffix in the present tense. So instead of "давает", we take off the -ва- and add the normal endings, giving us даёт (he/she/it gives).
Why do we use нам for "us" instead of нас?
Because "us" is the indirect object here. The sleep is giving health to us. In Russian, the receiver of an action takes the dative case, which is нам for "we". Нас is the accusative form, which you would use if "us" was the direct object being directly acted upon.
Since "health" is being given, shouldn't здоровье change its ending for the accusative case?
It is actually in the accusative case right now! Здоровье is a neuter noun. Inanimate neuter nouns look exactly the same in the accusative case as they do in the dictionary form (the nominative case), so the ending does not change.
I've seen сон used to mean "dream". How do I know when it means "sleep"?
Сон translates to both "sleep" and "dream", so you have to rely purely on context. A phrase like хороший сон usually means a healthy, restful night of sleep, though in a different context it could mean a pleasant dream.
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