Breakdown of Кальций начинает укреплять кости.
начинать
to begin
кость
bone
кальций
calcium
укреплять
to strengthen
Questions & Answers about Кальций начинает укреплять кости.
Why do we use the imperfective verb укреплять instead of the perfective укрепить here?
In Russian, phase verbs that describe the start, continuation, or end of an action (like начинать, продолжать, and заканчивать) must always be followed by an imperfective infinitive. The phase verb itself can be perfective or imperfective, but the action following it focuses on the ongoing process, so it must stay imperfective.
How is the verb укреплять (to strengthen) formed from words I already know?
You can recognize the root креп-, which you likely know from the adjective крепкий (strong, sturdy). The prefix у- often denotes bringing something into a certain state, so укреплять literally translates to bringing something into a strong state, or making it strong.
What case is кости in, and why?
It is in the accusative plural, acting as the direct object of укреплять. The singular noun is кость (bone), which is a feminine 3rd-declension noun ending in a soft sign. Because it is inanimate, its accusative plural form is identical to its nominative plural form (кости).
If I wanted to emphasize this as an additional health benefit using the marker более того (moreover), where would it go?