Breakdown of По окончании курса университет должен выдать сертификат.
университет
university
должен
must, have to
курс
course
сертификат
certificate
окончание
completion
по
upon / after (formal, e.g., upon arrival)
выдать
to issue
Questions & Answers about По окончании курса университет должен выдать сертификат.
Why does окончании end in -ии instead of the usual Prepositional ending -е?
The noun is окончание (completion), which is a neuter noun ending in -ие. Nouns ending in -ие, -ия, or -ий take -ии in the Prepositional case, not the standard -е. Since the preposition по meaning 'upon' or 'immediately after' requires the Prepositional case, we get по окончании.
Could I just say после окончания instead of по окончании? What is the difference?
Yes, после окончания (after completion) means the same thing and is much more common in everyday speech. Using по + Prepositional is a formal, official style often found in documents, announcements, or academic contexts. It specifically translates to the formal English 'upon completion'.
Why is курса in the Genitive case?
It translates the English 'of' in 'completion of the course'. Even though окончание comes from a verb, it is grammatically a noun, so the noun that follows it must be in the Genitive case to link them together.
Why use the perfective verb выдать here instead of the imperfective выдавать?
The university is expected to perform this action once to achieve a complete result (issuing the specific certificate for this course). The perfective выдать focuses on getting that single result done, whereas the imperfective выдавать would imply a continuous or repeated process of handing out certificates over time.
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