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Questions & Answers about Отпусти мою руку!
Since we are learning about 'пусть', how would you change this sentence to mean 'Let HIM let go of my hand'?
Because this is a direct command to 'you', it uses the standard imperative отпусти. To make it a third-person command using the grammar from this lesson, you would use пусть plus the normal future tense form: Пусть он отпустит мою руку! (Let him let go of my hand!).
Why is the perfective verb отпустить used for this command instead of the imperfective?
Perfective imperatives are used to demand a single, completed action with a specific result. The speaker wants the listener to complete the action of releasing their hand right this moment. The imperfective equivalent would sound more like general advice rather than an urgent, one-time command.
The English translation uses 'of' in 'Let go of my hand'. Why is there no preposition in the Russian sentence?
In English, 'let go' acts as a phrase requiring the preposition 'of'. In Russian, the verb отпустить simply means 'to release' and takes a direct object. Therefore, мою руку is placed directly in the accusative case without any prepositions.
Why does моя рука change to мою руку here?
It changes because it is the direct object receiving the action of the verb отпусти. In Russian, direct objects take the accusative case, which changes the feminine ending -а to -у and the pronoun ending -я to -ю.