Breakdown of Они использовали компанию в качестве посредника.
они
they
в
in / to (direction)
компания
company
использовать
to use (+ accusative)
в качестве
as / in the capacity of
посредник
intermediary
Questions & Answers about Они использовали компанию в качестве посредника.
Why is посредника in the Genitive case here?
The phrase в качестве (meaning "as" or "in the capacity of") always requires the following noun to be in the Genitive case. Since посредник (intermediary) is masculine, it takes the -а ending.
Could I use как instead of в качестве in this sentence?
Yes! You could say Они использовали компанию как посредника. When using как for roles, the noun must match the case of the thing it refers to. Since компанию is in the Accusative case, посредник also goes into the Accusative. Because посредник is an animate masculine noun, its Accusative form happens to look exactly the same as the Genitive: посредника.
Is the verb использовали perfective or imperfective here?
The verb использовать (to use) is one of the rare Russian verbs that is "bi-aspectual". This means it functions as both imperfective and perfective without changing its form. Depending on the context, this exact word can mean "they were using" or "they successfully used".
How can I easily remember the word посредник?
Look at its root! It contains -сред-, which means "middle" (just like in среда for Wednesday, the middle of the work week, or посреди meaning "in the middle of"). A посредник is literally a "middleman" or intermediary.
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