Breakdown of Они пытались пробраться хребтом, но им это не удалось.
это
this / it is
не
not
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
они
they
но
but
пытаться
to try, to attempt
удаться
to manage / to succeed (perfective)
пробраться
to make one's way (perfective)
хребет
ridge
Questions & Answers about Они пытались пробраться хребтом, но им это не удалось.
Why is хребтом in the instrumental case here without a preposition?
This is the bare instrumental of route. When describing the physical space or path along which motion happens, Russian often uses the instrumental case without a preposition. Here, it translates to moving "along the ridge".
What is the nuance of using пробраться instead of a standard verb of motion?
The verb пробраться implies making your way through a difficult, narrow, or obstructed path. Walking along a rugged mountain ridge (хребет) requires effort and careful navigation, which makes this specific verb a much better fit than a simple word like идти.
Why does the second half of the sentence use the dative им instead of the nominative они?
The verb удаться (to succeed or manage to do something) requires the person succeeding to be in the dative case. Literally, the phrase им это не удалось translates to "this was not successful to them."
Why do we use the imperfective пытались but the perfective пробраться right next to each other?
The verb пытаться (to try) is used in the imperfective here to show the ongoing effort of the attempt. The infinitive пробраться, however, is perfective because their goal was a single, successfully completed action: getting all the way across the ridge.
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