Breakdown of Они боятся, что компания может им недоплатить.
они
they
что
that (conjunction)
мочь
to be able to
компания
company
бояться
to be afraid
недоплатить
to underpay
Questions & Answers about Они боятся, что компания может им недоплатить.
How does the prefix недо- change the meaning of the verb here?
The prefix недо- indicates that an action is done insufficiently or falls short of a standard. Added to the root for pay, недоплатить means to underpay. Its direct opposite in this context would be переплатить (to overpay).
Is there a difference between недоплатить (one word) and не доплатить (two words)?
Yes, and it is a vital distinction! As one word, недо- is a single prefix denoting an insufficient action (underpaying). As two words, не simply negates the verb доплатить (to finish paying or to pay the remainder). The one-word version is used here because they fear being given a lower amount overall, not just missing a specific final installment.
Why is the perfective aspect (недоплатить) used after может instead of the imperfective?
They are afraid of a specific, single potential outcome: that the company might shortchange them on a particular occasion. If they were worried about an ongoing or repeated situation (such as the company chronically underpaying them over a period of time), the imperfective form недоплачивать would be used.
Why is the pronoun им in the dative case?
The verb недоплатить inherits its case requirements from the base verb платить. In Russian, you direct a payment to someone, which requires the recipient to be in the dative case. Therefore, они (they) becomes the dative им (to them).
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