Breakdown of В этой игре игрокам всегда достаётся по четыре жетона.
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
всегда
always
в
in / to (direction)
четыре
four
Questions & Answers about В этой игре игрокам всегда достаётся по четыре жетона.
Why is it по четыре, using the Accusative case, instead of the Dative?
This is the special distributive use of по, meaning "each". While по usually takes the Dative case, when expressing "how many each" with the numbers 2, 3, and 4, you must use the Accusative case for the number. This is why we say по четыре instead of по четырём. For 1, and 5 or more, you revert to using the Dative.
Why is the noun жетона in the Genitive singular? Does по affect it?
The preposition по only affects the number четыре. The noun жетона simply follows the standard rule for numbers: after 2, 3, and 4 in the Nominative or inanimate Accusative, the noun must be in the Genitive singular. So, четыре жетона stays exactly the same when you add по.
Why is the verb достаётся in the singular? Shouldn't it be plural (достаются) to match four tokens?
What is the difference between saying игрокам достаётся and игроки получают?