Breakdown of Дети пошли не только за покупками, но и за билетами в кино.
в
in / to (direction)
кино
cinema
билет
ticket
пойти
to go (perfective, on foot) / to start (of rain, snow)
дети
children
не только ..., но и
not only ... but also
за
for (to fetch, go get)
покупка
purchase
Questions & Answers about Дети пошли не только за покупками, но и за билетами в кино.
Why use за покупками and за билетами here instead of для to mean "for"?
This is the classic "target retrieval" use of за with the Instrumental case. You use it when someone goes somewhere to fetch, get, or buy something and bring it back. Using для would incorrectly mean the physical trip was done for the benefit of the tickets.
Is пойти за покупками the normal way to say "to go shopping"?
Yes! While you can say пойти в магазин (to go to the store), пойти за покупками is a very common set phrase for "to go shopping." Literally, it translates as "to go fetch purchases."
Why is the preposition за repeated after но и?
The phrase uses the paired conjunction не только ..., но и ... (not only..., but also...). In Russian, when you link prepositional phrases with this structure, it is highly expected to repeat the preposition in the second half to keep the grammar parallel and natural.
Why do we say билетами в кино instead of using the Genitive case for "cinema"?
In English we say "tickets to the cinema," but Russian treats tickets as granting access into or onto a destination. Therefore, you use в or на plus the Accusative case to show direction. Here, в кино acts literally like "into the cinema." Note that кино is an indeclinable borrowed word, so its form doesn't change.
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