Breakdown of От страха люди бросались бежать, падали камнем и кричали.
и
and
камень
stone
люди
people
падать
to fall
от
from
кричать
to shout
бежать
to run
страх
fear
бросаться
to throw oneself / to rush at
Questions & Answers about От страха люди бросались бежать, падали камнем и кричали.
Why is "камнем" in the instrumental case here if there's no preposition like "с"?
This is the Metaphorical Instrumental of comparison. By putting камень (stone) in the instrumental case (камнем), the sentence means they fell "like a stone" or "as a stone." In Russian, you can often skip the word "like" (как) and just use the instrumental case to show what an action directly resembles.
What exactly does "бросались бежать" mean? Is it different from just saying "побежали"?
The verb бросаться literally means "to throw oneself." When combined with an infinitive like бежать (to run), it emphasizes a sudden, frantic, or desperate start to the action. It paints a much more vivid and chaotic picture of panic than simply using побежали (started running).
Could we say "из-за страха" instead of "от страха" here?
While both express "because of," от is the natural choice here. От is used for direct, spontaneous physical or emotional reactions (like crying from joy or shaking from cold). Из-за is typically used for external obstacles, logical reasons, or negative outside factors (like being late because of traffic). Here, the fear is an internal emotional trigger, making от страха the standard phrasing.
Why are the verbs "бросались", "падали", and "кричали" all in the imperfective aspect?
The imperfective aspect is used here to describe a continuous, chaotic scene rather than a neat sequence of completed events. It shows that people were doing these things simultaneously and repeatedly in the background. If the author had used perfective verbs, it would sound like an ordered step-by-step list: first they all threw themselves, then they all fell, and finally they screamed.
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