Breakdown of Комик продолжает шутить, несмотря на волнение.
продолжать
to continue
несмотря на
despite (+ noun)
комик
comedian
шутить
to joke
волнение
nervousness
Questions & Answers about Комик продолжает шутить, несмотря на волнение.
I know несмотря на takes the accusative case, but волнение looks like it is in the nominative. Why is that?
Волнение is a neuter, inanimate noun. For all neuter inanimate nouns, the accusative case form is exactly the same as the nominative case form. So it is indeed in the accusative here, even though the spelling has not changed.
Is the comma before несмотря на required here? We would not use one in English before "despite".
Yes, in Russian, phrases starting with несмотря на (and невзирая на) are almost always set off by commas, regardless of where they appear in the sentence. This is a strict punctuation rule that differs from English.
Could we use the perfective verb пошутить instead of the imperfective шутить here?
No. The verb продолжать (to continue) is a "phase verb"—a verb that marks the beginning, continuation, or end of an action. In Russian, phase verbs must always be followed by an imperfective infinitive.
I learned волнение as "excitement". Does it always mean "nervousness" in contexts like this?
Волнение broadly means "agitation" or a state of being emotionally stirred up. Depending on the context, it can translate to excitement, worry, nervousness, or even social unrest. Here, a comedian pushing through this feeling on stage naturally translates best to stage fright or nervousness.
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