Breakdown of Возраст здесь не играет роли.
не
not
здесь
here
возраст
age
играть роль
to play a role, to matter
Questions & Answers about Возраст здесь не играет роли.
Why is роли in the genitive case here instead of the accusative?
This is due to the "genitive of negation." When a verb is negated with не, its direct object often takes the genitive case instead of the accusative, especially with abstract concepts like a "role". Since роль is a feminine noun ending in a soft sign, its genitive form is роли. If the sentence were positive, it would stay in the accusative: Возраст играет роль.
Is играть роль a direct translation of the English idiom "to play a role"?
Could I use the word значение (meaning/significance) to say the same thing?
Absolutely. Another very common and interchangeable way to express this is Возраст здесь не имеет значения (Age has no significance here). Notice that значения is also in the genitive case here because of the exact same negation rule!
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