Breakdown of Волонтёры набрали дров для костра.
для
for
волонтёр
volunteer
костёр
the campfire
набрать
to gather a lot of
дрова
firewood
Questions & Answers about Волонтёры набрали дров для костра.
Why is дров in the genitive case instead of the accusative, since it's the direct object?
This is exactly what the prefix на- does in this lesson's topic! When на- is added to a verb to mean accumulating a quantity of something (like набрать), the object usually takes the genitive case. It acts like a partitive genitive, meaning they gathered a quantity of firewood rather than specific, definite logs.
Is дров a singular or plural word?
It is the genitive plural of дрова. In Russian, firewood is almost always treated as a plural-only noun, so you will see it declined in the plural forms. The genitive plural of дрова drops the -а ending, leaving the zero ending дров.
What is the nominative form of костра, and why does it lose a letter here?
The nominative is костёр (bonfire). The ё is a fleeting vowel. When you add endings to the word, such as the genitive -а required by the preposition для, the ё drops out completely, making it костра rather than the incorrect костёра.
What is the difference between using набрали and собрали for gathering firewood?
Собрали simply means gathered or collected together in a general sense. By using набрали, the sentence specifically emphasizes the accumulation of a mass or quantity. It implies they gathered a whole bunch of firewood, likely until they had enough for their purpose.
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