Questions & Answers about Актёр работает ради похвалы.
Could I use для instead of ради in this sentence?
While both can translate as 'for', ради specifically means 'for the sake of' or 'for the ultimate purpose of'. It highlights the actor's deeper emotional or psychological motivation. Для is typically used for practical purposes or tangible recipients, so using it here would sound slightly unnatural, as if 'praise' were a physical object being handed over.
Why does the word похвалы end in -ы?
The preposition ради always requires the following noun to take the Genitive case. The dictionary form for 'praise' is the feminine noun похвала, which changes its -а ending to -ы in the Genitive singular.
I sometimes see ради placed after the noun. Would похвалы ради be correct here?
Yes! Ради is one of the rare Russian prepositions that can act as a postposition (coming after the noun). Saying похвалы ради is grammatically correct and adds a slightly poetic, philosophical, or emphatic flavor, though the standard, neutral word order is exactly what you see here: ради похвалы.
Does the use of ради dictate the aspect of the verb, such as the imperfective работает used here?
No, ради can be used with both perfective and imperfective verbs. However, because it describes an underlying, ongoing motivation or principle, it pairs exceptionally well with imperfective verbs like работает to describe general habits, steady states, or a continuous way of life.