Breakdown of Он поддался искушению и купил торт.
и
and
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
купить
to buy (perfective)
торт
cake
искушение
temptation
поддаться
to succumb, to give in
Questions & Answers about Он поддался искушению и купил торт.
Why does the verb поддался require the Dative case for искушению?
The verb поддаться (to give in, to yield) requires the Dative case for the thing you are yielding to. This is the Dative of Submission: you use the Dative when expressing that you are surrendering control to an outside force, feeling, or influence, such as temptation or panic.
What is the literal image behind the verb поддаться?
The root verb is дать (to give), and the reflexive даться can mean to let oneself be caught or taken. The prefix под- often indicates movement underneath something. So, поддаться paints a literal picture of putting yourself under something else's power, which perfectly matches the English idea of submitting or yielding.
If he were constantly giving in to temptation, how would the verb change?
You would need to use the imperfective form of the verb, which is поддаваться. A phrase like Он постоянно поддавался искушению means he regularly or continually yielded to it. Here, the perfective поддался shows he yielded in one specific, completed instance.
Why does торт look like it is in the Nominative case here?
It is actually in the Accusative case because it is the direct object of купил (bought). However, because торт is a masculine inanimate noun, its Accusative form is identical to its Nominative form. If it were a masculine animate noun, it would take a Genitive-looking ending instead.
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