Breakdown of Помимо воды, этот компонент увлажняет кожу.
вода
water
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
помимо
apart from, besides (+ genitive)
кожа
skin
Questions & Answers about Помимо воды, этот компонент увлажняет кожу.
Why do we use воды instead of вода after помимо?
The preposition помимо means "besides" or "in addition to" and always requires the Genitive case. Therefore, the nominative вода changes to the genitive воды.
Can I use кроме instead of помимо in this sentence?
Yes, you could say Кроме воды since both prepositions take the Genitive case. However, помимо is an excellent choice here because it strictly means "in addition to" (inclusion). Кроме can mean either "in addition to" or "except for" (exclusion) depending on the context, though the meaning of addition is usually clear from the rest of the sentence.
Why is there a comma after воды?
In Russian punctuation, introductory phrases that express addition, inclusion, or exception are usually set off from the main clause by a comma. This is especially true for phrases starting with помимо, кроме, or наряду с.
Why is the verb увлажняет in the imperfective aspect here?
We use the imperfective увлажнять because the sentence describes a general, continuous property or function of the component. It consistently moisturizes the skin in general, rather than describing a one-time, completed action (which would require the perfective form увлажнить).