Breakdown of По ознакомлении с документом вы должны его подписать.
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
вы
you (plural or formal)
документ
document
с
with (also со)
должен
must, have to
подписать
to sign
по
upon / after (formal, e.g., upon arrival)
ознакомление
the familiarization
Questions & Answers about По ознакомлении с документом вы должны его подписать.
Why is it по ознакомлении (Prepositional) instead of по ознакомлению (Dative)?
In this specific formal construction meaning 'upon' or 'immediately after', the preposition по requires the Prepositional case. If you used the Dative (по ознакомлению), it would carry its usual meaning of 'along' or 'according to', which doesn't make sense for a temporal clause like this.
Why does ознакомлении end in -ии rather than the standard Prepositional -е?
The dictionary form is ознакомление, a neuter noun ending in -ие. As a rule, nouns ending in -ия, -ий, and -ие take -и in the Prepositional case instead of the standard -е. Therefore, it becomes ознакомлении.
Why do we use с документом (Instrumental) right after the noun ознакомлении?
Verbal nouns (nouns created from verbs) usually keep the same preposition and case requirements as their parent verb. Because the verb 'to familiarize oneself with' is ознакомиться с + Instrumental case, the noun ознакомление also requires с + Instrumental.
Is the phrase по ознакомлении used in everyday conversation?
No, this по + Prepositional structure is highly formal and mostly restricted to written bureaucratic, legal, or official instructions. In everyday spoken Russian, you would simply use после того, как (after) with a regular verb instead.
Could I change the word order at the end to подписать его?
Yes, подписать его is perfectly correct and might feel more natural to English speakers. However, placing a short pronoun object right before the infinitive (его подписать) is very natural in Russian and is frequently used to let the sentence resolve on the main action verb.
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