Question 1

Why is которую in the accusative case here?

Accepted Answer

The relative pronoun который takes its gender and number from the noun it replaces (работа, feminine singular). However, it takes its case from its grammatical role in its own part of the sentence. Here, it is the direct object of обсуждали (we discussed which), so it must be in the accusative case, которую.

Question 2

Why use the imperfective past обсуждали rather than the perfective обсудили?

Accepted Answer

Using the imperfective обсуждали points to the simple fact that a discussion took place in the past, or it focuses on the ongoing process of talking. If you used the perfective обсудили, it would emphasize that the discussion was completely finished and a final conclusion was reached.

Question 3

How does the prefix in откладываешь create the meaning of postponing?

Accepted Answer

The verb is based on the imperfective root for putting or laying (класть). The prefix от- often signifies movement away or setting something aside. Therefore, откладывать literally means to put something aside, which translates perfectly to putting off or postponing a task.

Question 4

If we wanted to say you put off every kind of work we discussed, could we add всякую or каждую before работу?

Accepted Answer

To mean every kind of or any sort of work, you would add всякую. The pronoun всякий focuses on the variety or type of things. If you used каждую работу instead, it would specifically mean each individual piece of work we discussed, viewing the tasks one by one as items on a list.

Почему ты откладываешь работу, которую мы обсуждали?

Breakdown of Почему ты откладываешь работу, которую мы обсуждали?

Questions & Answers about Почему ты откладываешь работу, которую мы обсуждали?

Learn Почему ты откладываешь работу, которую мы обсуждали and more in Russian