Breakdown of После испуга животные разбрелись по лесу.
после
after
по
along, around
лес
forest, wood
животное
the animal
испуг
fright
разбрестись
to wander off [pf]
Questions & Answers about После испуга животные разбрелись по лесу.
How do the prefix раз- and postfix -ся change the base verb here?
The base verb is брести (to wander, trudge, or stroll slowly). When you add the prefix раз- and the reflexive postfix -ся (or -сь after a vowel), it adds the meaning of 'scattering' or moving away from a central point in multiple directions. So, разбрелись means they didn't just wander, but they wandered off in different directions.
Why is the prefix spelled раз- here, rather than рас-?
The spelling of this prefix depends on the first letter of the root that follows it. Since the base verb брести starts with б, which is a voiced consonant, the prefix takes the voiced form раз-. If the root started with a voiceless consonant (like п, т, or к), it would be spelled рас-.
Животные means 'animals', but it looks like an adjective. How does it decline?
You are exactly right! Животное is a neuter noun that originally comes from an adjective (meaning 'living'). Because of this, it declines exactly like a standard adjective rather than a typical noun. Here it is in the nominative plural, taking the standard adjective ending -ые.
Why is лес (forest) in the dative case (по лесу) instead of the prepositional case?
The preposition по takes the dative case when it describes movement around, along, or throughout a surface or area. Here, the animals are not just located at a single spot inside the forest (which would use в лесу in the prepositional case); they are scattering all over it, so we use по + dative.
Is the word испуга (fright) related to a verb I might already know?
Yes, it is the genitive singular of the masculine noun испуг (fright, scare), which is required here after the preposition после. This noun is formed directly from the root of the verb испугаться (to get scared). You will often see Russian nouns created by dropping the verb endings like this.
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