Breakdown of Мы медленно пробирались густыми зарослями.
мы
we
медленно
slowly
густой
dense
пробираться
to make one's way
заросли
thickets
Questions & Answers about Мы медленно пробирались густыми зарослями.
Why is густыми зарослями in the instrumental case here without any prepositions?
This is the Bare Instrumental of Route. In Russian, verbs of motion can take a noun in the instrumental case to show the path, area, or medium you are moving through. You do not need a preposition like по or через when using this construction, which is especially common for describing movement through natural spaces like forests, fields, or water.
Could we use a preposition like через or сквозь instead for this sentence?
Yes, you could say сквозь густые заросли or через густые заросли, both of which require the accusative case. The preposition сквозь emphasizes the physical difficulty of pushing through a barrier, which fits well here. However, the bare instrumental (густыми зарослями) gives a slightly more literary and descriptive feel of continuous movement within that space.
Why use the reflexive verb пробирались instead of a standard verb of motion like шли?
The verb пробираться specifically means to make one's way with difficulty, to squeeze through, or to sneak. It tells us that moving through the thickets was a physical struggle. The non-reflexive base verb пробирать usually means to pierce or chill (like a biting cold wind), so the -ся particle is necessary here to show the subjects are navigating themselves through an obstacle.
Is the noun зарослями usually plural?
Almost always, yes. It comes from the feminine noun заросль, meaning an overgrown area. In Russian, it is most natural to use the plural form заросли when talking about wild bushes, weeds, or thickets. Because the singular form ends in a soft sign, its plural instrumental form takes the -ями ending.
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