Breakdown of Портной сказал, что здесь нет шва, а воротник не готов.
не
not
здесь
here
а
and (contrastive)
нет
there is no / is not present
сказать
to tell, to say
что
that (conjunction)
готовый
ready
портной
tailor
воротник
collar
шов
seam
Questions & Answers about Портной сказал, что здесь нет шва, а воротник не готов.
Why does the noun портной have an adjective ending?
Портной is a substantivized adjective, meaning it functions as a noun but declines exactly like an adjective. You will see this pattern with other roles and professions too, such as рабочий (worker) or учёный (scientist).
What is the nominative form of шва and why does it look so different here?
The base word is шов (seam). It has a fleeting vowel, meaning the о drops out when case endings are added. Because it follows нет (which requires the genitive case), шов becomes шва.
Why use the short-form adjective готов instead of the long-form готовый?
Short-form adjectives are often used to describe temporary states or conditions. Since the collar being unfinished is just a temporary phase in the tailoring process, the short form готов is much more natural here than the permanent-sounding готовый.
Why does the sentence use а to translate to 'and' instead of и?
Russian uses а to indicate a mild contrast or a shift in topic. Here, the speaker is juxtaposing two different things: first mentioning the lack of a seam, and then shifting focus to the collar. Using и would feel too much like a simple list of identical events.
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