Breakdown of Жители округа избирают его депутатом.
его
him / it (acc)
житель
resident
депутат
deputy
округ
district
избирать
to elect
Questions & Answers about Жители округа избирают его депутатом.
Why does депутат change to депутатом in this sentence?
Because of the verb избирают (elect). When using verbs of appointing, electing, or naming, the person being appointed is the direct object in the Accusative case (here, его), and the role or title they are given takes the Instrumental case (here, депутатом). You can think of the Instrumental case here as playing the role of the English word 'as'.
Is округа a feminine noun acting as the subject alongside жители?
No, the base word is округ (district), which is a masculine noun. It ends with an -a here because it is in the Genitive singular case. It directly modifies жители to mean the residents of the district.
Why use the imperfective verb избирают here rather than a perfective form?
The imperfective избирают indicates a general fact, a routine democratic process, or an action currently in progress. If the sentence was talking about a specific, one-time election that will be successfully completed in the future, it would use the perfective future form изберут (will elect).
Could this be phrased using a preposition instead of the Instrumental case for the role?
Yes, in Russian you will also frequently hear избирают его в депутаты. When using the preposition в for elections or appointments, the role is put in the Accusative plural, even if it refers to a single person. Both constructions are completely natural for a B2 speaker to use, but the Instrumental (депутатом) is the classic, slightly more formal grammatical pattern for verbs of appointing.
Learn Жители округа избирают его депутатом and more in Russian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free