Breakdown of Он не обращает внимания на цену.
не
not
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
цена
price
обращать внимание
to pay attention (to)
Questions & Answers about Он не обращает внимания на цену.
How would I change this sentence to say 'He pays no attention to the fact that it is expensive' using our current lesson's grammar?
You would use the preposition на with the pointer word то (in the Accusative case, so it stays то), followed by что. The sentence becomes: Он не обращает внимания на то, что это дорого. The phrase на то, что acts as a bridge between the main verb and the subordinate clause.
Why is the word for attention in the Genitive case (внимания) instead of the Accusative (внимание)?
This is due to the negative particle не. In Russian, the direct object of a negated verb frequently takes the Genitive case to emphasize the complete absence of the object. While you might occasionally hear native speakers use the Accusative (не обращает внимание), the Genitive (не обращает внимания) is the standard, grammatically correct form for this specific phrase.
Why is цену in the Accusative case after на, rather than the Prepositional case?
The preposition на takes the Accusative case when it shows the direction or target of an action—in this case, directing attention towards or onto the price. It only takes the Prepositional case when describing a stationary location.
Why use the imperfective verb обращает here instead of its perfective pair?
The imperfective verb обращает describes a general habit, characteristic, or ongoing state: 'He (generally) pays no attention.' If you wanted to talk about a specific, single incident, you would use the perfective: Он не обратил внимания (He didn't pay attention that one time) or Он не обратит внимания (He won't pay attention).
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