Breakdown of Один пациент тихо покашливает, а другой уже похрапывает.
а
and (contrastive)
тихо
quietly
один
one
уже
already
Questions & Answers about Один пациент тихо покашливает, а другой уже похрапывает.
How does the circumfix по- ... -ыва-/-ива- change the meaning of the verbs покашливает and похрапывает?
It adds an intermittent and attenuative meaning to the base verbs. This means the action happens from time to time (intermittent) and with mild intensity (attenuative). From the base verbs кашлять (to cough) and храпеть (to snore), we get покашливать (to cough lightly now and then) and похрапывать (to snore a bit intermittently).
Since they start with the prefix по-, are покашливает and похрапывает perfective verbs?
No, they are imperfective. While the prefix по- often turns a verb into a perfective one (like посмотреть), the suffix -ыва- or -ива- is a strong imperfective marker. When used together as a circumfix (a prefix and suffix added at the same time), they always create an imperfective verb that describes an ongoing, repetitive, but low-intensity background action.
Why is the conjunction а used here instead of и for "and"?
The conjunction а is used to contrast two different subjects performing different actions. Here, we are contrasting the first patient (один пациент) with the second one (другой). If you used и, it would sound like a plain addition rather than highlighting the contrasting situation between the two people.
How does "another" translate to другой here instead of еще один?