Breakdown of Нам надо списать дюжину бракованных телефонов.
мы
we
телефон
phone
надо
must, need to
дюжина
dozen
списать
to write off
бракованный
defective
Questions & Answers about Нам надо списать дюжину бракованных телефонов.
Why is дюжину in the accusative case, but телефонов is in the genitive?
Дюжина (a dozen) is a regular feminine noun, not a standard cardinal number like двенадцать. Because it is the direct object of the verb списать (to write off), it takes the accusative case (дюжину). Grouping nouns like дюжина, десяток, and сотня are then followed by the items being counted in the genitive plural (бракованных телефонов).
Doesn't the verb списать usually mean 'to copy' or 'to cheat'?
It can! In a school context, списать (from с- meaning 'off/from' + писать meaning 'to write') means to copy someone else's work. However, in a business, accounting, or inventory context like this sentence, it means 'to write off', 'to discard', or 'to scrap' damaged goods.
What is the root of the word бракованных?
It comes from the noun брак. In Russian, брак has two completely unrelated meanings: 'marriage' and 'defect' or 'factory reject' (the latter was borrowed from German). Here, it forms the adjective бракованный, which means 'defective' or 'faulty'.
Is it more natural to say дюжину rather than двенадцать here?
Both are perfectly natural. Just like in English, using a grouping noun like дюжина (a dozen) is common when dealing with batches of inventory or standard quantities. However, keep in mind that while дюжина means exactly 12, other grouping nouns like десяток (a ten) are often used to mean 'about ten'.
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