Breakdown of Машина чуть не сбила пешехода на перекрёстке.
машина
car
на
on, at / by (transport) / to (a place) / to (in answer to)
перекрёсток
intersection
пешеход
the pedestrian
чуть не
almost (narrowly)
сбить
to hit
Questions & Answers about Машина чуть не сбила пешехода на перекрёстке.
Why does the Russian sentence use the negative word не when the English translation "almost hit" is positive?
The phrase чуть не is an idiom that pairs with a perfective past-tense verb to describe an action that was imminent but narrowly avoided. Literally, it translates to "by a little bit, it didn't". While English focuses on how close the event came to happening ("almost did"), Russian highlights that the action ultimately did not happen.
Why is the verb сбила used here instead of a general word for "hit" like ударила?
The verb сбить is formed from бить (to beat/hit) plus the prefix с- (off/down), literally meaning "to knock down". It is the standard, specific verb used in Russian for traffic accidents where a vehicle strikes a pedestrian, cyclist, or animal, implying they were knocked off their feet.
Since the pedestrian is the direct object receiving the action, why does пешехода take an -а ending like the genitive case?
It is in the accusative case, but because пешеход (pedestrian) is a masculine animate noun (a living being), its accusative form must match its genitive form. If the car had almost hit an inanimate masculine object, like a traffic light, it would use the standard nominative-looking form: чуть не сбила светофор.
What is the root of the word перекрёсток (intersection)?
The word is built around the root крест, which means "cross". A перекрёсток is literally a crossing of roads. It takes the prepositional case ending -е here (на перекрёстке) because it describes the static location where the near-miss took place, rather than a direction of movement.
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