Breakdown of Он выбрал самую дорогую машину.
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
машина
car
дорогой
expensive
выбрать
to choose (perfective)
Questions & Answers about Он выбрал самую дорогую машину.
Why do we use the perfective verb выбрал here instead of the imperfective выбирал?
The perfective выбрал shows that the action was successfully completed—he made a final decision. This fits closely with the concept of verbs of achievement. If we used the imperfective выбирал, it would mean he was only in the process of choosing, like 'he was picking out' a car.
How do we form 'the most expensive' in Russian in this sentence?
You form this type of superlative by putting the modifier самый (the most) in front of the adjective. Both самый and the adjective must match the noun's case, gender, and number. Here, they become самую дорогую to match the feminine accusative noun машину.
As a quick refresher, why do the endings for самую дорогую машину all change to -у or -ю?
The car is the direct object receiving the action of the verb, so the phrase must be in the accusative case. For feminine singular words, the nominative noun ending -а changes to -у, and the adjective endings -ая and -яя change to -ую and -юю.
Learn Он выбрал самую дорогую машину and more in Russian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free