Breakdown of Она спокойно ответила на все вопросы.
она
she / it (for a feminine noun)
вопрос
question
ответить
to answer (perfective)
весь
all, the whole, everything, everyone
спокойно
calmly; it is calm
Questions & Answers about Она спокойно ответила на все вопросы.
Why do we need the preposition на here when English just says 'answered all the questions'?
In Russian, the verb ответить (to answer) takes the preposition на plus the accusative case when you are answering a thing, like a question or a letter. If you want to say who you are answering to (a person), you use the dative case without a preposition, for example, ответить преподавателю (to answer the teacher).
What case is все вопросы in this sentence?
It is in the accusative case, required by the preposition на for indicating the target of the answer. Because вопрос is an inanimate masculine noun, its accusative plural form looks exactly like its nominative plural form.
Why is the perfective verb ответила used instead of the imperfective отвечала?
The perfective aspect emphasizes the successful completion and result of the action. She did not just spend time in the process of answering (отвечала); she got through the entire list of questions to the end. The word все (all) also strongly suggests a completed, total result.
Could we put спокойно at the end of the sentence?
You could, but placing an adverb of manner like спокойно (calmly) immediately before the verb is the most natural, neutral word order in Russian. Moving it to the end (Она ответила на все вопросы спокойно) would place special emphasis on her calmness, as the end of a Russian sentence carries the most new or important information.
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