Question 1

What exactly is было doing here? The subject is Он (masculine), so why is there a neuter past-tense verb?

Accepted Answer

Here, было is not a verb, but a particle of 'thwarted action.' When placed immediately after a perfective past tense verb like надел, it shows that an action was just completed or about to be completed, but was suddenly interrupted or cancelled. He got his coat on, but the shoelace situation immediately interrupted his next steps.

Question 2

Could we use the imperfective verb надевал with the particle было in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

No, this specific use of the particle было to show a thwarted action requires a perfective past tense verb. The point is that the action of putting on the coat was successfully completed (надел), but its logical result was immediately interrupted by him remembering the shoelace.

Question 3

Why does the sentence use про левый шнурок instead of о левом шнурке for 'about the left shoelace'?

Accepted Answer

Both mean 'about', but про takes the accusative case (hence левый шнурок) while о takes the prepositional case. Using про is simply a more colloquial, everyday way to say 'about' compared to the slightly more neutral or formal о.

Question 4

As a refresher, why is the verb надел used here instead of одел?

Accepted Answer

This is a classic Russian distinction. You use надеть (and its past tense надел) when putting clothing on yourself or on a specific body part. You use одеть when you are dressing someone or something else, like a child or a mannequin. Since he is putting his own coat on, надел is the right choice.

Он надел было пальто, но вспомнил про левый шнурок.

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