Breakdown of Я спросил об этом только из любопытства.
это
this / it is
я
I
только
only
о
about (о, об, обо)
спросить
to ask (perfective)
из
out of
любопытство
curiosity
Questions & Answers about Я спросил об этом только из любопытства.
Why do we use из here instead of от for 'out of'?
Because любопытство (curiosity) is a conscious motive. As we are learning in this lesson, из + Genitive is used when you do something intentionally based on an internal feeling or motive (like out of curiosity, pity, or spite). If the cause was an involuntary physical or emotional reaction (like jumping from surprise or crying from pain), you would use от + Genitive instead.
Why is it об этом rather than о этом?
The preposition о (about) changes to об when the very next word starts with a vowel (а, о, у, э, и). Since этом starts with the vowel э, we use об to make the phrase easier to pronounce.
What case is этом in?
It is in the Prepositional case. The preposition о or об meaning 'about' always requires the Prepositional case. Этом is the Prepositional form of the demonstrative pronoun это (this).
What is the dictionary form of любопытства and why does its ending change?
The dictionary form is любопытство (curiosity), which is a neuter noun ending in -о. Its ending changes to -а here because the preposition из always requires the following noun to be in the Genitive case.
Learn Я спросил об этом только из любопытства 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