Question 1

Why use the imperfective verb работал instead of a perfective equivalent?

Accepted Answer

This is a classic example of the "General Factual" meaning in the past tense. We use the imperfective работал because we are simply stating the bare fact that he was engaged in this profession. We aren't focusing on a completed result, a specific duration, or the end of his career.

Question 2

Why is the word for sailor (моряк) in the instrumental case (моряком)?

Accepted Answer

In Russian, when you state what someone works as using the verb работать (to work), the profession must be in the instrumental case. This also applies when using быть (to be) in the past or future tense, like saying "he was a sailor" (он был моряком).

Question 3

Why does this sentence use ходил (multidirectional) instead of a unidirectional or perfective verb of motion?

Accepted Answer

The phrase ходить в море is a set expression meaning "to sail" or "to work as a sailor." We use the multidirectional ходил to show that this was a habitual, repeated action in the past—he went out to sea and returned many times. This fits perfectly with the general factual nature of the first half of the sentence.

Question 4

Why do we say в море instead of на море? Don't we usually use на for going to the sea?

Accepted Answer

If you are going on a beach vacation, you go на море (to the seaside). But sailors and ships go в море (into the open sea or ocean). The accusative case is used in both phrases to show the direction of motion.

Мой дедушка работал моряком, он ходил в море.

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