Breakdown of После того как мы нашли одного перспективного спонсора, проект начал быстро развиваться.
мы
we
быстро
fast, quickly
найти
to find
проект
the project
начать
to begin (perfective)
после того как
after (conjunction)
развиваться
to develop
один
a certain / some
перспективный
promising
спонсор
sponsor
Questions & Answers about После того как мы нашли одного перспективного спонсора, проект начал быстро развиваться.
Why is одного used here? Can't we just say мы нашли перспективного спонсора?
Using одного here acts like "a certain" or "one particular" in English. It shows that you have a specific sponsor in mind, but you are introducing them to the listener for the first time. If you left it out, it would just mean "a promising sponsor" in a general sense.
Could we use какого-то instead of одного in this sentence?
Yes, but it changes the meaning slightly. Одного implies you know exactly who this sponsor is (indefinite specific). If you used какого-то, it would mean "some kind of" or "some unknown" sponsor, implying even you might not know much about them or their exact identity isn't important.
Why do the words одного перспективного спонсора look like they are in the genitive case?
They are actually in the accusative case, because they are the direct object of the verb нашли (we found). For animate masculine nouns like спонсор (sponsor), the accusative case takes the exact same endings as the genitive case. This applies to the adjectives and pronouns attached to it, too.
Why do we need the words того как? Why not just say После мы нашли?
In Russian, the preposition после (after) must be followed by a noun or pronoun in the genitive case; it cannot be attached directly to a subject and verb. To connect it to the clause мы нашли, you must use the linking phrase того как, which acts like a bridge meaning "after that (moment) how".
Why does the verb развиваться have the reflexive -ся ending here?
The verb развивать is transitive, meaning it needs a direct object (e.g., to develop a new product). Because the project is not developing something else, but rather developing itself, we use the reflexive form развиваться to make it intransitive.
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