Questions & Answers about Добрый день, господа!
Why is the plural of господин (gentleman) господа instead of "господины"?
This connects perfectly to your current lesson! Nouns denoting people that end in -ин (like social classes or nationalities ending in -анин) drop the -ин suffix in the plural. While most of these take an -е ending (like гражданин becoming граждане), господин is an exception. It drops the -ин but takes a stressed -а ending, giving us господа.
Since господа ends in "-а", does it behave like a feminine noun?
No, it is strictly a masculine plural noun. Some masculine nouns take a stressed -а or -я ending in the nominative plural (like дом becoming дома or глаз becoming глаза). Don't let the -а ending trick you into treating it as a feminine singular word!
Is господа the normal way to address people in modern Russian?
Yes, it is the standard polite address for a group of men, or a mixed group (often used in the phrase дамы и господа meaning "ladies and gentlemen"). During the Soviet era, it was suppressed and replaced by товарищи (comrades), but it has returned to common use in formal situations today.
Why is there a comma before господа?
In Russian punctuation, any word used to directly address someone must be separated from the rest of the sentence by commas. You will see this rule applied much more strictly in written Russian than it is in English.
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