Breakdown of Завещание принёс адвокат.
принести
to bring (perfective)
адвокат
the lawyer
завещание
the will
Questions & Answers about Завещание принёс адвокат.
Why is the subject (адвокат) at the very end of the sentence instead of the beginning?
In Russian, the most important or 'new' information (the rheme) goes at the end of the sentence. Because адвокат is at the end, the sentence emphasizes who brought the will. It answers the implicit question 'Who brought the will?' rather than 'What did the lawyer do?'.
Завещание is at the start of the sentence. How do we know it isn't the subject?
Завещание (the will) is a neuter noun, so its accusative case (used for direct objects) looks exactly like its nominative case. We know it is the object because адвокат is clearly a nominative masculine noun. The verb принёс is also masculine, agreeing perfectly with адвокат as the subject doing the action.
The English translation says 'was brought by'. Is the Russian verb принёс passive?
No, принёс is a standard active verb meaning 'brought'. English often uses the passive voice to change focus, letting us put the object ('the will') first. Russian doesn't need the passive voice for this; it keeps the active verb and simply swaps the word order to Object-Verb-Subject to achieve the exact same emphasis.
Does putting адвокат at the end imply it was 'a lawyer' or 'the lawyer'?
Placing a noun at the end of a sentence introduces it as new information, so it frequently translates with an indefinite article in English ('a lawyer brought the will'). However, it depends on context; it could also mean a specific lawyer, with the word order just emphasizing that the lawyer (and not someone else, like a relative) is the one who brought it.
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