Breakdown of Между прочим, он никогда не был в Москве.
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
быть
to be
никогда
never
между прочим
incidentally, by the way
Questions & Answers about Между прочим, он никогда не был в Москве.
What does между прочим literally mean, and is it the exact same as кстати?
Literally, it means 'between other things'. It translates to 'incidentally' or 'by the way'. While it is very similar to кстати, между прочим can sometimes carry a slightly more assertive or argumentative tone, similar to 'for your information', though in this sentence it is simply used as 'incidentally'.
Why do we use the prepositional case в Москве instead of the accusative в Москву when the English translation says 'been TO Moscow'?
English treats 'been to' as implying a journey or direction, but Russian treats the verb быть (to be) purely as a state of location. Because the verb describes being located somewhere rather than moving somewhere, you must use the prepositional case for location (в Москве) rather than the accusative case for destination (в Москву). This is a common trap for English speakers.
The English translation uses the present perfect 'has never been'. Why is the Russian past tense был used here?
Russian does not have a present perfect tense. Because the state of being in Moscow (or in this case, the lack of it) describes a past reality, and he is not currently there, Russian simply uses the past tense of быть. You just rely on the word никогда (never) to convey the 'in his whole life up to now' aspect.
Could we use the frequentative verb бывать here instead of был?
Absolutely. You could say он никогда не бывал в Москве. While не был states the simple factual event of him not being there, не бывал emphasizes the complete lack of the experience itself, meaning he has never once set foot in the city. Both are very natural here.
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