Breakdown of По истечении года мы завершим строительство.
мы
we
год
year
строительство
construction
завершить
to complete (perfective)
по
upon / after (formal, e.g., upon arrival)
истечение
the expiration
Questions & Answers about По истечении года мы завершим строительство.
Why does истечении end in -ии instead of the standard Prepositional ending -е?
The preposition по meaning 'upon' requires the Prepositional case. For neuter nouns ending in -ие (like истечение), the Prepositional ending is always -ии, not -е. You will see this often in formal phrases like по окончании (upon finishing) and по прибытии (upon arrival).
Could I use после истечения instead of по истечении here?
Yes, после + Genitive (после истечения) means the exact same thing. Using по + Prepositional is simply a more formal, official way to say 'immediately after' or 'upon'.
Is по истечении года a phrase I should use in everyday conversation?
No, it is highly formal and sounds like a legal contract or an official report. In daily conversation, you would express this much more simply, such as через год (in a year) or когда пройдёт год (when a year has passed).
Why use the verb завершим rather than the more common закончим for 'we will finish'?
Завершить is a slightly more formal synonym of закончить. Because the first half of the sentence uses the formal construction по истечении, choosing завершим keeps the official, professional tone consistent throughout the entire sentence.
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