Breakdown of По окончании урока йоги мы чувствуем радость.
мы
we
урок
lesson
чувствовать
to feel
радость
joy
окончание
completion
по
upon / after (formal, e.g., upon arrival)
йога
yoga
Questions & Answers about По окончании урока йоги мы чувствуем радость.
How does По окончании demonstrate "syntactic compression" here?
Instead of using a full subordinate clause with a verb, like После того как мы окончили урок (After we finished the class), the sentence compresses the action into the verbal noun окончание (completion). This makes the sentence more compact, which is a common feature of written or slightly elevated Russian.
Why does окончании end in -ии? Doesn't the preposition по usually trigger the Dative case?
Usually, yes. However, when по is used to mean "upon" or "immediately after," it requires the Prepositional case. Because the nominative form окончание ends in -ие, its Prepositional case ending is -ии. You might sometimes hear native speakers mistakenly use the Dative here, but по окончании is the strictly correct formal grammar.
Why is the word for class (урока) in the Genitive case instead of the Accusative?
When an action is expressed by a verb (окончить урок - to finish the class), the target is a direct object in the Accusative. But when that action is compressed into a verbal noun (окончание), it loses the ability to take an Accusative object. Instead, the object shifts to the Genitive case, literally translating to "the finishing OF the class" (окончание урока).
We have урока and йоги right next to each other. How do these cases work together?
This is called a Genitive chain, which frequently happens when using verbal nouns. Урока is Genitive because it belongs to the verbal noun окончании (the finishing of the class), and йоги is Genitive because it modifies the class (a class of yoga). Russian stacks these Genitive nouns together to connect related ideas without needing extra words.
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