Learn Russian: Так как я был на диете, я не поддавался искушению. - Since I was on a diet, I did not give in to temptation.

Так как я был на диете, я не поддавался искушению.

Since I was on a diet, I did not give in to temptation.

Breakdown of Так как я был на диете, я не поддавался искушению.

не

not

на

on, at / by (transport) / to (a place) / to (in answer to)

быть

to be

Questions & Answers about Так как я был на диете, я не поддавался искушению.

Why is искушению in the Dative case?

This perfectly demonstrates the Dative of Submission! The verb поддаваться (to yield, give in) requires the Dative case for the thing you are yielding to. You are submitting yourself to the temptation (искушению).

Would it be wrong to use the perfective verb поддался here?

In this context, the imperfective поддавался is much more natural because being on a diet is an ongoing state. The imperfective shows continuous resistance over that whole period. The perfective не поддался would sound like you resisted one single, specific temptation at an exact moment.

Is there a difference between starting the sentence with так как versus потому что?

Yes, there is a stylistic rule here. While both mean because or since, it is usually considered poor style to start a sentence with потому что. When you want to state the cause before the effect at the very beginning of a sentence, так как is the standard and most natural choice.

Why is the word for diet paired with the preposition на (на диете)?

In Russian, abstract states, conditions, or activities often take the preposition на with the Prepositional case. Just like in English, you are on a diet, not inside one. Another common example of this state-of-being rule is на пенсии (in retirement).