Breakdown of Вследствие нехватки древесины пиломатериалы стали дороже.
стать
to become
дороже
more expensive
нехватка
the shortage / the lack
вследствие
as a consequence of, as a result of
Questions & Answers about Вследствие нехватки древесины пиломатериалы стали дороже.
Why does вследствие end in -е and not -и?
In this sentence, вследствие is a formal compound preposition meaning 'as a result of' or 'due to'. As a preposition, it is always written as one word and ends in -е, and it forces the following noun into the Genitive case (hence нехватки). It is a common trap to confuse it with the noun phrase в следствии (meaning 'in the investigation'), which is two words and ends in -и (Prepositional case).
Why are there two Genitive nouns in a row here (нехватки древесины)?
They are in the Genitive case for two separate reasons, creating a Genitive chain. The first word, нехватки (shortage), is Genitive because it is the object of the preposition вследствие. The second word, древесины (timber), is Genitive to show relationship or possession—literally translating to 'shortage of timber'.
The verb стать (to become) usually takes the Instrumental case. Why isn't the Instrumental used for дороже?
It is true that nouns and full adjectives following стать take the Instrumental case (for example, стали дорогими). However, дороже is a comparative ('more expensive'). Comparatives in Russian are uninflected, meaning they do not change for case, gender, or number. Therefore, it simply stays as дороже.
What is the exact difference between древесина and пиломатериалы?