Word
Вежливые люди всегда говорят спасибо.
Meaning
Polite people always say thank you.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Вежливые люди всегда говорят спасибо.
всегда
always
говорить
to speak, to talk
люди
people
спасибо
thank you
Questions & Answers about Вежливые люди всегда говорят спасибо.
Why do we use the imperfective verb говорят instead of the perfective скажут?
The word всегда (always) shows that this is a repeated, habitual action. In Russian, habitual actions require imperfective verbs, which is why we use говорят instead of its perfective counterpart сказать.
Can I use the verb благодарить (to thank) instead of говорят спасибо?
Yes! You could say Вежливые люди всегда благодарят. However, говорят спасибо is a very natural, everyday way to express this, exactly like saying "say thank you" in English.
Does спасибо change its ending here since it acts as the direct object of the verb?
No, спасибо is an indeclinable word. Even though it acts as the direct object (the thing being said) in this sentence, it never changes its form to take an accusative case ending.
Are there other words related to вежливые (polite)?
Yes, it comes from an old Russian root meaning "to know" (related to the verb ведать). A polite person was originally someone who "knew how to behave." You will see the opposite meaning in words like невежа (a rude person or boor).