Breakdown of Нас пятеро, и мы очень сплочённая команда.
и
and
мы
we
очень
very
нас
us
команда
team
пятеро
five (collective)
сплочённый
cohesive
Questions & Answers about Нас пятеро, и мы очень сплочённая команда.
Why is Нас in the Genitive case here instead of the Nominative Мы?
When stating how many of "us", "you", or "them" there are using a collective numeral like пятеро (five) as a predicate, the personal pronoun must take the Genitive case (нас, вас, их). You can think of it literally as "Of us [there is] a group of five."
Could I just say Нас пять instead of Нас пятеро?
Yes, нас пять using a standard cardinal numeral is grammatically correct and very common. However, the collective numeral пятеро emphasizes the group as a single, united entity rather than just a count of separate individuals, which fits perfectly with the second half of the sentence about being a "cohesive team."
Where does the adjective сплочённая (cohesive) come from?
It is a past passive participle formed from the verb сплотить (to unite or rally together), which is related to the adjective плотный (dense, thick, or tight). It paints the picture of a team that is tightly bound together.
Why is there no dash between мы and команда, since the present tense verb "are" is missing?
While Russian normally uses a dash to replace the present tense verb "to be" when both the subject and the predicate are nouns, the rule changes for pronouns. When the subject is a personal pronoun like мы, the dash is generally omitted.
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