Breakdown of Это поразительное совпадение буквально пугает меня.
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
меня
me
пугать
to frighten
поразительный
striking / astonishing
совпадение
the coincidence (n)
буквально
literally
Questions & Answers about Это поразительное совпадение буквально пугает меня.
The lesson is about 'тот же самый' and 'один и тот же'. How would I apply that to this sentence to say 'The exact same coincidence scares me'?
Because совпадение is a neuter noun, you would use the neuter forms. You could say То же самое поразительное совпадение пугает меня (The exact same striking coincidence scares me) or use Одно и то же. Notice how these phrases seamlessly replace the demonstrative pronoun Это.
Is буквально used for figurative exaggeration in Russian, just like 'literally' is in English?
Exactly. While its core meaning is 'literally' or 'word for word' (from буква, meaning 'letter'), native Russian speakers frequently use буквально as an intensifier for emotional effect, even when the statement is completely figurative. Here, the fear might be real, but the word is used to emphasize the intensity.
Поразительное translates to 'striking'. Is it related to the verb for physically striking something?
Yes, it derives from поразить, which means 'to strike' or 'to hit a target', but is most commonly used metaphorically to mean 'to astound' or 'to shock'. A поразительное совпадение is one that 'strikes' you with amazement.
Why is the imperfective verb пугает used here instead of the perfective испугает?
Since this is a present-tense statement about a feeling you are experiencing right now, it requires an imperfective verb. If you used the perfective form испугает, the sentence would instantly shift to the future tense, meaning 'This striking coincidence will scare me.'
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