Word
Он вёл себя так странно, что все замолчали.
Meaning
He behaved so strangely that everyone fell silent.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Он вёл себя так странно, что все замолчали.
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
так
so, like this
вести себя
to behave
странно
strange, it is strange
Questions & Answers about Он вёл себя так странно, что все замолчали.
Why do we use так here instead of такой for "so"?
We use так because it modifies an adverb (странно - strangely). In Russian, you use так (so) with adverbs or verbs. You use такой (such / so) with adjectives or nouns. If you wanted to say "He was such a strange person," you would use такой.
Literally, what does вёл себя mean?
It literally translates to "led himself." The verb вести means "to lead," and себя is the reflexive pronoun for "oneself." In Russian, putting them together (вести себя) is the standard way to express how someone "behaves."
How does the prefix за- change the meaning of the verb замолчали?
The base imperfective verb is молчать (to be silent). Adding the prefix за- makes it perfective and focuses on the beginning of the action. So, instead of "they were silent," замолчали means "they fell silent" or "they stopped talking" as a direct result of his behavior.
Is the comma before что mandatory in a так ... что sentence?
Yes! In English, we often drop commas before "that", but Russian punctuation rules strictly require a comma between a main clause and a subordinate clause. You will always need a comma before the что in a так ... что (so ... that) construction.