Breakdown of Им досталось по три жетона.
они
they
три
three
по
each (distributive)
достаться
to go to (perfective)
жетон
token
Questions & Answers about Им досталось по три жетона.
Why is it три here? Doesn't the preposition по usually take the Dative case?
It usually does, but distributive numbers are a special exception! When expressing "X amount each", по takes the Accusative case for the numbers 2, 3, and 4. Since жетон (token) is inanimate, the Accusative of "three" looks exactly like the Nominative: три. If it were 1 or 5+, we would use the Dative (e.g., по одному жетону or по пять жетонов).
Why is the verb досталось in the neuter singular instead of the plural достались?
When a distributive phrase starting with по (like по три жетона) acts as the subject, Russian treats the entire phrase as a single impersonal block. Because there is no standard Nominative subject for the verb to agree with, the past tense verb defaults to the neuter singular form -о.
Why is the sentence structured with Им (Dative) instead of Они (Nominative) for "they"?
The verb достаться (perfective for "to get" or "to fall to someone's share") requires the person receiving the item to be in the Dative case. You can think of the literal translation as "Three tokens each fell to them."
Why is жетона in the Genitive singular if the number phrase is in the Accusative case?
The preposition по dictates the case of the number (три), but the internal rules of the number phrase still apply to the noun. The numbers 2, 3, and 4 require the noun that follows to be in the Genitive singular whenever the number itself is in the Nominative or Accusative case. Therefore, жетон becomes жетона.
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