Breakdown of Они часто лазят по горкам, зато им весело.
они
they
часто
often
по
along, around
зато
but on the other hand
весело
cheerfully
горка
slide
лазить
to climb / to crawl (multidirectional)
Questions & Answers about Они часто лазят по горкам, зато им весело.
Why is лазят used here instead of лезут?
лазят is a form of the multidirectional verb лазить. It is used here because the climbing is a repeated habit (indicated by часто) and implies moving all over the slides in various directions. If they were climbing up a specific slide in one single direction right now, you would use the unidirectional verb лезут (from лезти).
I have also seen the form лазают. Is лазят a different verb?
They mean the exact same thing, but come from two different accepted infinitives for this multidirectional verb. лазят comes from лазить, which is extremely common in everyday speech. However, strict dictionaries often prefer the alternative infinitive лазать and its conjugation (лазаю, лазают). Both are correct, though лазают is considered slightly more formal or literary.
Why do we use the preposition по + dative case (по горкам) here?
With multidirectional verbs of motion, по followed by the dative case is used to show motion around, along, or all over a surface. Here, лазят по горкам captures the idea of kids clambering all around and over the slides, rather than just climbing strictly onto or inside them.
How exactly does зато work in this sentence?
зато is a contrastive conjunction that means "but on the other hand" or "but at least". It is used to balance a negative or questionable first half (climbing all over things can be messy or risky) with a positive compensation (the kids are having a great time). It perfectly expresses finding a silver lining.
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