Breakdown of После того как мы заблудились, мы были в отчаянии.
мы
we
в
in / to (direction)
быть
to be
после того как
after (conjunction)
заблудиться
to get lost
отчаяние
despair
Questions & Answers about После того как мы заблудились, мы были в отчаянии.
Why is it в отчаянии with a double и at the end?
Отчаяние (despair) is a neuter noun ending in -ие. Nouns ending in -ия, -ие, or -ий take an -и in the prepositional case instead of the standard -е. So, в отчаянии uses the prepositional case to describe being deep in an emotional state.
Could we use the instrumental case here for the state of being, like we do with professions (e.g., мы были отчаянием)?
No, because отчаяние is an abstract feeling, not a role or temporary identity. When talking about being 'inside' an emotion or a metaphorical state, Russian uses в + the prepositional case, much like English uses 'in' (in love, in shock, in despair).
Why do we need того как instead of just saying После мы заблудились?
In Russian, prepositions like после (after) can only attach to nouns or pronouns, not entire clauses with a subject and verb. To connect после to the action of getting lost, we have to insert the pronoun то in the genitive case (того) followed by как. Literally, it forms 'After of that how we got lost.'
Is заблудились reflexive, and does it literally mean 'we lost ourselves'?
Grammatically it has the reflexive -сь ending, but it doesn't mean 'lost ourselves' in a literal transitive sense. The reflexive заблудиться is simply the standard perfective verb meaning 'to get lost' or 'to lose one's way.'
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