Breakdown of Этот перформанс — просто куча мусора.
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
просто
simply, just
мусор
trash
перформанс
performance art
куча
pile
Questions & Answers about Этот перформанс — просто куча мусора.
The translation says 'performance'. Why use перформанс here instead of спектакль or выступление?
Перформанс is a specific borrowing used for modern 'performance art' or conceptual art installations. For a classic theater play, you would use спектакль, and for a musical or stage performance, выступление. The choice of перформанс sets the context perfectly for someone complaining about modern art looking like trash!
Why is there an em-dash (—) before просто?
The em-dash replaces the present tense verb 'to be' (is/are) when both the subject (перформанс) and the core of the predicate (куча) are nouns in the Nominative case. The particle просто (simply) adds emphasis but doesn't cancel the grammatical rule for the dash.
Since the current lesson is about что за, how would I rephrase this sentence into an exclamation using that structure?
You could rephrase it as: Что за куча мусора этот перформанс! (What a pile of garbage this performance is!). Because что за requires the Nominative case for the core thing being exclaimed about, the noun куча stays Nominative, and the attached Genitive мусора naturally follows it.
Why is мусора in the Genitive case rather than Nominative?
Мусор (garbage) takes the Genitive case ending to become мусора, which shows composition. It translates directly to the English 'of' in 'pile of garbage'. The main noun representing the predicate is куча (pile), so only куча needs to be in the Nominative case.
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