Breakdown of Невеста и жених долго смотрели друг на друга.
и
and
смотреть
to watch / to look at / make sure (in a warning)
долго
for a long time
друг друга
each other
Questions & Answers about Невеста и жених долго смотрели друг на друга.
Why is the preposition на placed in the middle of друг на друга?
When you use a preposition with the reciprocal pronoun друг друга (each other), the preposition always goes directly between the two words, never before them. Since the Russian phrase for 'to look at' is смотреть на, the preposition на steps right in to separate the halves.
Why does the second part of the phrase change to друга?
The first half of друг друга always stays in its base (nominative) form. The second half acts like a normal noun and takes the case required by the verb and preposition. Смотреть на requires the accusative case for the object being looked at. The accusative form of an animate noun like друг is друга.
Why do we use the imperfective verb смотрели instead of the perfective посмотрели?
The adverb долго (for a long time) emphasizes the duration of the action. Because the bride and groom were in the continuous process of looking at each other for an extended period, the imperfective aspect смотрели is required.
The English translation says 'bride and groom'. Is невеста и жених the strict word order in Russian?
Unlike English, which strongly prefers the fixed order of 'bride and groom', Russian is much more flexible here. You will hear both невеста и жених and жених и невеста. While жених и невеста is slightly more of a set phrase, the order used in this sentence is completely natural.