Breakdown of Наш менеджер долго добивался авторитета.
наш
our (наш, наша, наше)
долго
for a long time
менеджер
manager
добиваться
to strive for (impf)
Questions & Answers about Наш менеджер долго добивался авторитета.
Why is авторитета in the genitive case here rather than the accusative?
This relates to the Genitive of Achievement. Verbs of striving, seeking, or achieving like добиваться (imperfective) or добиться (perfective) require their object to be in the genitive case. The manager isn't directly acting upon the authority; he is reaching for it.
Why is the imperfective verb добивался used instead of the perfective добился?
The word долго (for a long time) signals a continuous, ongoing process. Добивался means he was in the process of striving for it. If the sentence used the perfective добился, it would mean he successfully achieved the authority as a completed result, which doesn't pair naturally with the continuous duration of долго.
Is авторитет exactly the same as the English word authority?
They are close, but in Russian, авторитет is usually much more about respect, credibility, or prestige rather than just official administrative power (which is often власть or полномочия). By striving for авторитет, the manager was trying to earn his team's true respect.
Since добивался ends in the reflexive particle -ся, how can it take an object?