Breakdown of Это трудно всем, тем более детям.
ребёнок
child
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
весь
all, the whole, everything, everyone
тем более
all the more so, especially
трудно
it is hard, difficult
Questions & Answers about Это трудно всем, тем более детям.
Why are both всем and детям in the dative case?
This sentence uses an impersonal construction. To say something is hard for someone in Russian, you use the adverb трудно followed by the dative case. Всем (to everyone) establishes this, and детям (to children) remains in the dative to match, because the difficulty is still applying directly to them.
How does the phrase тем более work grammatically?
It literally translates as 'by that more.' Тем is the instrumental case of то (that), and более means 'more.' Together, they form a fixed emphatic particle phrase meaning 'all the more so,' 'especially,' or 'even more.' It is used to logically amplify the preceding statement.
Since this lesson is about всё-таки and всё же, could I use one of those here instead?
No, because they have a completely different logical function. Всё-таки and всё же mean 'nevertheless' or 'still,' implying a concession or contradiction (for example, 'It is hard for kids, but they do it anyway'). Тем более escalates or agrees with the previous point, proving that the situation is even more extreme.
Why is there a comma before тем более?
In Russian, тем более frequently acts as a connective phrase introducing an added clarification or an escalating afterthought. When it connects an expanding thought to the main clause like this, it must be separated by a comma.
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