Breakdown of По подписании договора происходит выдача ключей.
ключ
key
договор
contract / treaty
происходить
to happen (imperfective)
по
upon / after (formal, e.g., upon arrival)
подписание
the signing
выдача
the issuance
Questions & Answers about По подписании договора происходит выдача ключей.
Why is it по подписании rather than the usual Dative case we often see with по?
When по means 'upon' or 'immediately after', it requires the Prepositional case instead of the Dative. This is a very formal structure. Because the noun подписание (signing) ends in -ие, its Prepositional ending is -ии.
Why is договор in the Genitive case (договора) here?
The word подписание is a verbal noun (a noun formed from a verb). While the verb 'to sign' takes a direct object in the Accusative case, the noun 'signing' uses the Genitive case to express the 'signing of the contract'.
Could we just say после подписания instead of по подписании?
Yes, после подписания (after signing) means almost exactly the same thing and is much more common in everyday speech. По подписании sounds highly formal and bureaucratic, which fits the context of legal contracts perfectly.
What is the subject of this sentence? The word order feels a bit inverted.
The subject is выдача (issuance). Russian often puts the verb (происходит) before the subject to place the most important new information at the end of the sentence. A more English-like word order would be Выдача ключей происходит... but the sentence's inverted order sounds more natural in formal Russian.
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