Breakdown of Учёный допускает, что атом — это очень маленькая частица.
это
this / it is
маленький
small
очень
very
что
that (conjunction)
учёный
scientist, scholar
частица
particle
допускать
to admit / to allow (entry or possibility)
атом
atom
Questions & Answers about Учёный допускает, что атом — это очень маленькая частица.
What exactly does допускает mean here? Does it mean "admits" like confessing to a crime?
Not quite. Допускать (imperfective) generally means "to allow," "to permit," or "to assume/concede." In academic contexts, it means to accept something as a possibility. If you wanted to talk about confessing to a mistake or a crime, you would use признавать or признаваться.
Why is there a dash and это before очень маленькая частица?
When you equate one noun to another in the present tense (here, the noun атом is equated to the noun частица), the verb "to be" is omitted. To act as a bridge, Russian writers use a dash followed by это. It acts like a grammatical equals sign between two nouns.
How would we apply this lesson's grammar to say the scientist thinks it is highly unlikely that an atom is a small particle?
You would change the main verb and drop the particle into the second clause: Учёный считает, что атом вряд ли очень маленькая частица. Notice that вряд ли (unlikely / hardly) simply drops in right before the doubted fact. It takes the normal indicative mood, meaning it reflects real facts rather than hypothetical ones, so you don't need to add the conditional particle бы.
Could we use едва ли instead of вряд ли to express this same doubt?
Yes! You could say: Учёный считает, что атом едва ли очень маленькая частица. Both mean "hardly" or "unlikely." Едва ли sounds slightly more formal and literary, which fits perfectly when talking about a scientist (учёный).
Is the word частица (particle) related to часть (part)?
Yes! The suffix -иц(а) is used to form nouns and often adds a diminutive meaning. So частица literally means a small part. It is the standard word for a "particle" in physics, and also for a "particle" in grammar—such as the probability particles you are studying in this lesson!
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