Breakdown of Говорят, что они разводятся из-за денег.
они
they
говорить
to speak, to talk
деньги
money
что
that (conjunction)
из-за
because of; from behind
разводиться
to get divorced
Questions & Answers about Говорят, что они разводятся из-за денег.
Why is there no они before Говорят if the English translation is 'They say'?
This is an indefinite-personal clause, which is the focus of your current lesson! To express a general rumor or opinion by an unspecified group of people (like 'rumor has it' or 'people say'), Russian uses the third-person plural verb without the pronoun они. Adding они here would mean a specific, previously mentioned group of people are saying it.
Could I use потому что instead of из-за to say 'because of money'?
No, because потому что (because) must be followed by a full clause with a subject and a verb (like потому что у них нет денег). To say 'because of' followed by just a noun, you need a preposition like из-за. Из-за requires the genitive case and is especially common for negative or external causes, making it perfect for this context.
Why does the word деньги (money) change to денег here?
The preposition из-за requires the genitive case. The word деньги is always plural in Russian. When forming its genitive plural, it drops the final vowel but inserts a 'fleeting vowel' -е- to make the cluster of consonants easier to pronounce, resulting in денег.
Why does the verb разводятся (are getting divorced) have the reflexive -ся ending?
In this sentence, the -ся ending indicates a reciprocal action, meaning they are doing it with or to each other. Russian often uses reflexive endings for mutual interactions, just like in the verbs встречаться (to meet up) or договариваться (to come to an agreement).
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