Breakdown of В прессе пишут, что они скоро женятся.
они
they
писать
to write
в
in / to (direction)
скоро
soon
что
that (conjunction)
жениться
to get married
пресса
the press
Questions & Answers about В прессе пишут, что они скоро женятся.
Why is there no они before пишут if the translation says 'They write'?
This is an indefinite-personal clause. By dropping the pronoun они, the focus shifts away from who specifically is doing the writing (the journalists) and onto the action or the rumor itself. It is the natural Russian equivalent of saying 'It is reported' or using a generic 'they'. If you actually added они here, it would sound like you were referring to a specific group of people you had just mentioned.
Doesn't using 'they' twice in English ('They write... that they...') sound confusing? How does Russian handle it?
Yes, it can be ambiguous in English! Russian avoids this confusion beautifully. By intentionally omitting the subject in the first clause (пишут), the verb becomes a general 'people write'. Then, when the explicit pronoun они finally appears in the second clause (они скоро женятся), it clearly points to a specific, newly introduced subject—the couple being discussed.
Why is женятся in the present tense form if they are getting married скоро (soon)?
Just like in English ('they are getting married soon'), Russian can use the present tense for firmly planned future events. Additionally, жениться is a biaspectual verb, meaning the exact same form serves as both the imperfective and perfective. Here, paired with скоро, it comfortably expresses a scheduled future event.
Can I use the verb женятся for any person or couple getting married?
You can use the plural женятся for a man and a woman getting married as a couple. However, gender is very important for this verb! Жениться literally comes from жена (wife) and means 'to take a wife', so it is only used for men or couples. If you are talking about a woman getting married, you must use the phrase выходить замуж (literally 'to go behind a husband').
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