Breakdown of Пока он не выдохнется, его гнев будет только расти.
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
только
only
быть
to be
расти
to grow
Questions & Answers about Пока он не выдохнется, его гнев будет только расти.
How does the вы-...-ся pattern create the meaning of 'running out of steam' in выдохнется?
The prefix вы- combined with the postfix -ся describes reaching a state of full saturation or exhaustion. The root here is related to breathing. Literally, выдохнуться means 'to exhale oneself entirely,' which is used metaphorically for getting completely exhausted or losing all energy.
Why is there a не in пока он не выдохнется, if the English translation 'Until he runs out...' has no negative word?
To say 'until' in Russian, you use пока не followed by a perfective verb. Literally, it means 'while he has not yet run out of steam.' It trips up English speakers because English 'until' is positive, but in Russian, that не is required to show the action hasn't been completed yet.
Why is выдохнется in the perfective aspect, while будет расти is imperfective?
Выдохнется is a perfective future verb because it points to a specific, final result: the exact moment he becomes fully exhausted. Будет расти is imperfective because the growth of his anger is an ongoing, continuous process that happens all the way up to that exact moment.
What does the non-reflexive verb выдохнуть mean compared to this?