Breakdown of Мои друзья заспорили из-за старых долгов.
друг
friend
старый
old
мой
my / mine
из-за
because of; from behind
долг
debt
заспорить
to start arguing
Questions & Answers about Мои друзья заспорили из-за старых долгов.
How does заспорили mean "started arguing" if there is no separate word for "started"?
The prefix за- here indicates the sudden or spontaneous beginning of an action. By adding it to the imperfective verb спорить (to argue), we get the perfective verb заспорить (to burst into an argument / to start arguing). This prefix is extremely common for actions involving sudden sounds and emotions.
Why do we use из-за for "because of" instead of потому что?
потому что is a conjunction meaning "because," and it must be followed by a full clause with a subject and a verb. из-за is a preposition meaning "because of" or "on account of," and it is followed directly by a noun phrase, which is exactly what we have here with старых долгов.
Why is the phrase for "old debts" in the genitive case (старых долгов)?
The preposition из-за always requires the noun phrase following it to take the genitive case. Since долг (debt) is a masculine noun ending in a consonant, its genitive plural ending is -ов, and the plural adjective takes the matching -ых ending.
I thought из-за meant "from behind". Is this the exact same word?
Yes! Physically, из-за means "from behind" (like stepping out from behind a door). Figuratively, it is the standard way to say "because of" an object, person, or event, particularly when the cause is a bit negative or led to a problem.
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