Breakdown of Она попросила его прикрыть дверь.
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
она
she / it (for a feminine noun)
дверь
door
попросить
to ask (to request)
прикрыть
to close slightly
Questions & Answers about Она попросила его прикрыть дверь.
Why is the verb прикрыть used instead of закрыть?
The prefix при- here adds an attenuative meaning, which means doing an action slightly or incompletely. While закрыть means to close the door completely, прикрыть means to close it just a little, leaving it slightly ajar.
Why do we use the accusative pronoun его before the infinitive instead of a dative pronoun like ему?
With the verb просить (to ask or request), the person being asked is the direct object, so it takes the accusative case (его). This is different from verbs like советовать (to advise) or разрешать (to allow), which take the dative case for the person.
Both verbs here are perfective (попросила, прикрыть). Why isn't the second verb imperfective?
She is asking him to perform a single, completed action with a specific result (getting the door to be mostly closed). In Russian, when you request a single specific result, the infinitive is usually perfective.
Is the word дверь in the nominative case here?
No, it is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of прикрыть. Because дверь is an inanimate feminine noun ending in a soft sign, its accusative form looks exactly the same as its nominative form.
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