Breakdown of Я вовсе не верю в настоящую магию.
не
not
я
I
в
in / to (direction)
верить
to believe
настоящий
real
магия
magic (noun)
вовсе
at all
Questions & Answers about Я вовсе не верю в настоящую магию.
How does вовсе не change the meaning compared to just using не?
While я не верю simply states the fact 'I do not believe', adding вовсе acts as an emphatic intensifier. It translates to 'at all' and is often used to actively contradict an assumption, meaning 'Despite what you might think, I do not believe.'
Could I use the other intensifier from this lesson, далеко не, instead of вовсе не here?
It would sound unnatural with this verb. Далеко не literally means 'far from' and is almost always used to negate adjectives or nouns (like далеко не лучший - far from the best). To strongly negate an action verb like верить, you should use вовсе не or совсем не.
Why is магия in the Accusative case (в настоящую магию) rather than the Prepositional case?
The verb верить (to believe) dictates the case. When it means 'to believe in something or someone', it always requires the preposition в followed by the Accusative case. The Prepositional case with в is generally reserved for answering the question 'where?' (location).
Could I use реальную instead of настоящую to mean 'real' magic?
You could, but настоящую is the most natural choice here. Настоящий is used to mean 'genuine' or 'authentic' as opposed to fake. Реальный is typically used to describe things that are practical, realistic, or existing in physical reality, rather than the abstract concept of genuine magic.
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