Breakdown of Мальчик так растерялся, что не мог скрыть свои слёзы.
не
not
мальчик
boy
что
that (conjunction)
мочь
to be able to
так
so, like this
свой
one's own
скрыть
to hide (conceal something)
растеряться
to get confused
слеза
the tear
Questions & Answers about Мальчик так растерялся, что не мог скрыть свои слёзы.
Why do we use так here instead of такой for "so"?
Why does the sentence use свои instead of его for "his"?
In Russian, when the object belongs to the subject of the sentence (the boy), you must use the reflexive possessive pronoun свой (in this case, свои to match the plural слёзы). If you used его слёзы, it would sound like he was trying to hide another boy's tears!
What is the literal meaning of растерялся?
The base verb is растерять, which means "to lose" (like dropping or misplacing things). By adding the reflexive ending -ся, it literally means "to lose oneself." In Russian, this is the natural way to express that someone "got confused," "panicked," or "was at a loss."
Why is растерялся perfective, while не мог is imperfective?
Растерялся describes a sudden, completed change of state: the boy became confused at a specific moment. Не мог is imperfective because it describes an ongoing state in the past: for a period of time after getting confused, he simply lacked the ability to hide his tears.
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