Breakdown of Иностранец внезапно заговорил по-русски.
по-русски
in Russian
иностранец
foreigner
внезапно
suddenly
заговорить
to start speaking
Questions & Answers about Иностранец внезапно заговорил по-русски.
Why does the sentence use заговорил instead of начал говорить?
The prefix за- here adds the specific meaning of a sudden or spontaneous start to an action. While начал говорить simply means started speaking, заговорил emphasizes that he unexpectedly broke into speech, fitting perfectly with the word внезапно (suddenly).
Does the prefix за- mean started for every verb in Russian?
No, this sudden start meaning is mainly used with verbs of sound, emotion, and speech (like заговорил, запел for started singing, or заплакал for started crying). For other actions, like reading or eating, you usually cannot use за- this way and must use начал plus an imperfective verb instead.
Is it redundant to use both внезапно (suddenly) and заговорил (suddenly started speaking)?
It is not redundant in Russian. It is actually very common to pair words like внезапно (suddenly) or вдруг (all of a sudden) with these за- verbs. The adverb just highlights and strengthens the unexpected nature of the action.
Why is the language written as по-русски instead of русский?
With verbs of communication like speaking, reading, or understanding, Russian uses the adverbial form по-русски (literally in a Russian way). The word русский is an adjective, so you would only use it to describe a noun, such as in the phrase русский язык (the Russian language).
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