Breakdown of Взрыв был такой сильный, что я закричал от ужаса.
я
I
быть
to be
что
that (conjunction)
сильный
strong
от
from
такой
such / so / what ... is
закричать
to shout (perfective)
ужас
the horror
взрыв
the explosion
Questions & Answers about Взрыв был такой сильный, что я закричал от ужаса.
In English we say "so strong", using "so". Why does the Russian sentence use такой (such) instead of так (so)?
In Russian, так is used to modify verbs and adverbs, but такой is used to modify nouns and adjectives. Because сильный (strong) is an adjective describing the noun взрыв (explosion), you must use такой. Even though it translates to "so strong" in English, Russian grammar essentially says "such strong".
Is the comma before что mandatory, or can I leave it out like we sometimes do in English?
The comma is strictly required. In Russian, subordinate clauses—parts of a sentence that have their own subject and verb, like я закричал here—must always be separated from the main clause by a comma. You also cannot drop the word что the way you can sometimes drop "that" in English.
Why is the perfective verb закричал used here instead of the imperfective кричал?
Закричал focuses on the sudden start of an action or a single completed event (meaning "let out a scream" or "started screaming"). Because the scream was an immediate, sudden reaction to the explosion, the perfective is the right choice. Кричал would mean "was screaming" as an ongoing process.
The English translation says "in terror", but the Russian uses от (from). Why is that?
The preposition от followed by the genitive case (here, ужаса) is commonly used in Russian to express the cause of an involuntary physical or emotional reaction. So закричал от ужаса literally means "screamed from terror." While you can say в ужасе to mean someone is in a continuous state of terror, от ужаса perfectly captures the direct cause-and-effect happening in this sentence.
Learn Взрыв был такой сильный, что я закричал от ужаса 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