Breakdown of Почему депутаты единогласно считают этого человека предателем?
человек
person
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
почему
why
считать
to count; to consider
предатель
traitor
депутат
deputy
единогласно
unanimously
Questions & Answers about Почему депутаты единогласно считают этого человека предателем?
Why is the word for traitor (предателем) in the Instrumental case here?
The verb считать (to consider) requires the Instrumental case for the noun or adjective that describes what someone is considered to be. In this structure, the verb takes a direct object in the Accusative (этого человека) followed by the Instrumental for the label or role (предателем).
Could I use the preposition за instead of the Instrumental case here, like считают этого человека за предателя?
While you might hear считать за plus the Accusative in casual colloquial speech or in set phrases (like считать за честь - to consider it an honor), standard Russian strongly prefers using the Instrumental case directly after считать for roles and labels. Sticking to the Instrumental (считают этого человека предателем) is the safest and most natural choice.
Why are we using этого человека (which looks like the Genitive case) as the direct object of считают?
The phrase 'this person' is the direct object of 'to consider', so it needs to be in the Accusative case. Because человек is an animate masculine noun (it represents a living person), its Accusative form is identical to its Genitive form (человека). The demonstrative pronoun этот must also match this animate Accusative form, becoming этого.
How is the adverb единогласно (unanimously) formed?
It literally translates to 'with one voice'. It is built from the root един- (one or single) and глас (an older Slavic root for 'voice', which you also see in the modern Russian word голос), plus the standard adverb ending -о.
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