Breakdown of Утром директор заехал в офис за разрешением.
утром
in the morning
в
in / to (direction)
офис
office
директор
director
заехать
to drop in / stop by (pf, by vehicle)
за
for (to fetch, go get)
разрешение
permission
Questions & Answers about Утром директор заехал в офис за разрешением.
Why use за разрешением instead of для разрешения to say 'for the permit'?
The preposition за followed by the Instrumental case is specifically used for fetching or retrieving something. You use it when you go somewhere with the goal of picking up an object or person and bringing them back. Using для (for the purpose or benefit of) would sound strange here because the director isn't doing a favor for the permit!
What does the prefix за- add to the verb of motion in заехал?
The prefix за- on a verb of motion means to drop by or make a short detour. Since the base verb is ехал (going by vehicle), we know the director didn't just walk, but made a quick stop at the office using some form of transport.
Is it a coincidence that we have both the prefix за- and the preposition за in the same sentence?
They are technically separate grammatical pieces, but they pair up naturally all the time! 'Dropping by' (заехать or зайти) is the perfect verb to use right before stating what you are dropping by to pick up (за + Instrumental). You will hear this double-за pattern very frequently in conversational Russian.
The lesson is about the Instrumental case. Is утром also in the Instrumental?
Yes! To say that an action happened during a general time of day, Russian simply puts that noun into the Instrumental case without any preposition. So the neuter noun утро (morning) becomes утром (in the morning).
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