Breakdown of Сообщают, что её летние гастроли отменили.
что
that (conjunction)
летний
summer (adjective)
отменить
to cancel (pf)
её
her (possessive)
сообщать
to report
гастроли
the tour (performances)
Questions & Answers about Сообщают, что её летние гастроли отменили.
Why are there no pronouns before Сообщают and отменили?
Both verbs are used in indefinite-personal clauses. By dropping the subject они and just using the 3rd-person plural verb, Russian expresses an action done by an unspecified group of people. This is the standard way to translate English passive or dummy-subject constructions like it is reported (Сообщают) or was canceled (отменили).
Why is the adjective летние in the plural form here?
It must agree with the noun гастроли (tour), which is a word that only exists in the plural form in Russian, even when referring to a single tour. Because гастроли is grammatically plural, any modifiers like летние must also take the plural form.
Could I use a passive voice construction like были отменены instead of отменили?
Yes, you could say её летние гастроли были отменены, but native speakers strongly prefer the indefinite-personal отменили in everyday speech and general news reporting. The short passive participle sounds much more formal and bureaucratic.
Why are Сообщают and отменили in different tenses?
Сообщают is an imperfective verb in the present tense because the reporting is a general fact happening right now. Отменили is a perfective verb in the past tense because the actual cancellation is a completed action that already happened.
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