Breakdown of Начальник отпустил нас домой раньше.
мы
we
домой
home
рано
early
начальник
boss
отпустить
to let go, to release
Questions & Answers about Начальник отпустил нас домой раньше.
How would we use the new grammar from this lesson to say 'Let the boss let us go home early!'?
You would use the particle пусть (or пускай) followed by the subject and the verb in the future tense: Пусть начальник отпустит нас домой раньше! Notice that we use the perfective future отпустит because it refers to a specific, completed action.
The English translation includes 'go', but is there a verb for 'go' in the Russian sentence?
No, there isn't. The perfective verb отпустил literally means 'released' or 'let go'. In Russian, you don't need to add a verb of motion here; saying the boss 'released us homeward' (отпустил нас домой) perfectly captures 'let us go home'.
Why does this sentence use домой instead of дома?
Домой is the directional form meaning 'homeward' or 'to home', whereas дома indicates the location of being 'at home'. Because the boss is releasing them to travel to their houses, the sentence requires the directional form домой.
What is the base form of the word раньше?
It is the comparative form of the adverb рано (early), so раньше means 'earlier'. Many Russian adverbs form their comparative by dropping the final -о and adding -е or -ше.
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