Breakdown of С одной стороны, голосовой помощник очень удобен, но с другой стороны, он может следить за нами.
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
мы
we
очень
very
удобный
comfortable / convenient
один
one
мочь
to be able to
но
but
другой
other
сторона
side
с
off / down from (a surface)
голосовой
voice (adjective)
помощник
the assistant
следить
to monitor
за
after / over (governed by следить)
Questions & Answers about С одной стороны, голосовой помощник очень удобен, но с другой стороны, он может следить за нами.
Do we always need но before с другой стороны?
No, you have a few options! You can use но (but) for a strong contrast, а (and/but) for a softer contrast, or just drop the conjunction entirely and say с другой стороны. In this sentence, но gives it the distinct feeling of "but, on the other hand...".
Can I leave out the second стороны to avoid repeating it?
Yes, definitely. Just like in English where you can say "on the one hand... on the other...", Russian speakers frequently shorten the second phrase to just но с другой or а с другой.
Why does the sentence use the short form удобен instead of the full adjective удобный?
While you could absolutely say голосовой помощник очень удобный in everyday conversation, the short form удобен sounds slightly more formal and analytical. Short-form adjectives are often used when stating a definitive fact or an objective characteristic, which perfectly fits a sentence where you are weighing the pros and cons of a technology.
Why is "spy on us" translated as следить за нами using the instrumental case?
The verb следить (to watch, observe, or spy) always requires the preposition за plus the instrumental case (нами is the instrumental of мы). You can memorize this by imagining someone sneaking behind (за) you to keep an eye on you!
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