Breakdown of Они купили этот дорогой замок только ради престижа и тщеславия.
и
and
они
they
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
только
only
дорогой
expensive
купить
to buy (perfective)
замок
castle
ради
for the sake of
престиж
prestige
тщеславие
vanity
Questions & Answers about Они купили этот дорогой замок только ради престижа и тщеславия.
Could I use для instead of ради in this sentence?
You could, and it would be grammatically correct (для престижа), but ради is much stronger. While для just means 'for', ради translates to 'for the sake of' or 'in the name of'. It specifically highlights the ultimate driving motive behind their expensive purchase.
Why do престиж and тщеславие end in -а and -я here?
They are in the Genitive case, which is required by the preposition ради. The masculine noun престиж takes the -а ending, and the neuter noun тщеславие changes its final -е to -я.
The word тщеславия is quite long. Is there an easy way to remember it?
Yes, looking at its roots helps! The dictionary form тщеславие (vanity) is a compound word made from тщетный (vain or futile) and слава (glory). Literally, it means 'futile glory'.
Since этот дорогой замок is the direct object being bought, why doesn't its ending change?
It actually is in the Accusative case! However, because замок (castle) is a masculine inanimate noun, its Accusative form looks exactly the same as its Nominative (dictionary) form. The modifiers этот and дорогой also keep their Nominative-like forms for inanimate masculine nouns.
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