Breakdown of Мы поговорили с обоими номинантами на вручении.
мы
we
на
on, at / by (transport) / to (a place) / to (in answer to)
с
with (also со)
поговорить
to have a talk (perfective)
оба
both (m/n)
вручение
presentation (of an award or gift)
номинант
nominee
Questions & Answers about Мы поговорили с обоими номинантами на вручении.
The word номинантами comes from a foreign root. Why does it decline fully here?
The current lesson covers foreign names, many of which do not decline if they end in a vowel. However, foreign nouns and names that end in a hard consonant (like the nominative номинант) almost always adopt standard Russian masculine declension. It takes the regular instrumental plural ending -ами just like a native Russian word.
Why is the word for both обоими rather than обеими here?
Обоими is the instrumental case of оба (both), which is used for masculine and neuter nouns. Since номинант is masculine, we use обоими. If we were talking about a feminine noun, we would use the feminine equivalent обеими.
What nuance does the perfective verb поговорили have compared to the imperfective говорили?
The prefix по- often gives a verb the meaning of doing an action for a little while or completing a specific instance of it. Here it translates well to having a chat or a discrete conversation, whereas the imperfective говорили would just focus on the ongoing background process of talking.
Why does вручении end in -ии instead of the standard prepositional ending -е?
The dictionary form of the word is вручение (presentation or award ceremony). Neuter nouns ending in -ие are a common exception to the standard rule and always take -ии in the prepositional case, which is a great pattern to refresh at this level.
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