Breakdown of Эта электростанция работает без угля и без нефти.
и
and
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
работать
to work
без
without
уголь
coal
нефть
oil
электростанция
power plant
Questions & Answers about Эта электростанция работает без угля и без нефти.
How could we express this idea using the lesson's target phrase, 'вместо того чтобы'?
Since вместо того чтобы (instead of) requires an infinitive verb, we cannot just attach it directly to the nouns уголь and нефть. We would have to introduce a verb like использовать (to use) and provide an alternative fuel source. For example: Эта электростанция работает на газе, вместо того чтобы использовать уголь и нефть. (This power plant runs on gas, instead of using coal and oil.)
Why is the genitive form of уголь (coal) угля and not уголя?
The word уголь contains a fleeting vowel. When endings are added to decline the word, the second о drops out. This is a common phonetic feature in Russian noun declension (similar to день becoming дня). Because the preposition без requires the genitive case, the word correctly becomes угля.
Why is the preposition без repeated before both угля and нефти?
In Russian, it is grammatically standard and stylistically very common to repeat the preposition before every noun in a coordinated list. While you could technically say без угля и нефти, repeating без adds emphasis to the statement, highlighting the complete absence of both fuel types.
What declension pattern does нефти follow?
Нефть (oil) is a feminine noun ending in a soft sign, placing it in the 3rd declension class (like дверь or ночь). For 3rd declension nouns, the genitive ending required by the preposition без is always -и, resulting in без нефти.
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