Breakdown of Студент сходил в университет за свидетельством и выпиской.
и
and
студент
student (m)
в
in / to (direction)
университет
university
сходить
to go (and come back)
за
for (to fetch, go get)
выписка
statement
свидетельство
certificate (e.g., birth, marriage)
Questions & Answers about Студент сходил в университет за свидетельством и выпиской.
Why do we use the instrumental case for свидетельством and выпиской after за?
When за is paired with a verb of motion like сходить, it takes the instrumental case to show the target of retrieval. It translates to "for" in the sense of going to fetch, grab, or pick something up. Here, the student made the trip specifically to retrieve those documents.
Why use the perfective verb сходил here instead of пошёл or the imperfective ходил?
The prefix с- added to the multidirectional verb ходить creates a perfective verb meaning a completed round trip or a quick errand. Пошёл usually implies a one-way trip (set off and hasn't returned), while сходил perfectly captures the idea of popping over to the university to pick something up and coming back.
What exactly does выпиской (from выписка) mean in an academic context?
While выписка broadly means an extract or a statement (like a bank statement or a hospital discharge), at a university it usually refers to an academic transcript or a statement of grades. It pairs naturally with свидетельство, which means a certificate or diploma.
Just as a refresher, why is it в университет (accusative) rather than в университете (prepositional)?
Even though сходил describes a completed round trip, it is still a verb of motion directing action toward a destination. You must use в plus the accusative case to express "to the university." The prepositional case (в университете) is only used for static location, answering "where at?" rather than "where to?".
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