Breakdown of Он знает пять языков, в том числе русский.
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
знать
to know
язык
language
пять
five
русский
Russian
в том числе
including, among them
Questions & Answers about Он знает пять языков, в том числе русский.
The current lesson is about помимо and наряду с. Why does this sentence use в том числе instead, and how is it different?
В том числе translates directly to 'including' (literally 'in that number'). You use it when you mention a broad group (пять языков) and then single out a specific subset of it. In contrast, помимо (besides) and наряду с (along with) add entirely new items alongside what was mentioned, rather than extracting an item from a larger group.
Why is русский in the nominative/accusative case here, rather than the genitive to match языков?
Even though языков is in the genitive plural because it is quantified by the number пять, the word русский is in the inanimate accusative case. It acts as a direct object of the verb знает (he knows Russian), completely bypassing the number rule applied to the broader group.
What does в том числе literally mean, and does it change case depending on the noun?
It literally translates to 'in that number' (в + prepositional case of тот + prepositional case of число). It is a fixed phrase, meaning it never changes its form no matter what grammar surrounds it.
Why does the sentence end with just the adjective русский? Shouldn't it be русский язык?
It is very common in Russian to drop the word язык (language) when the context makes it obvious. Since языков was just mentioned in the first clause, repeating it would sound clunky to a native speaker.
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