Learn Russian: Свидетель лгал суду. - The witness was lying to the court.

Свидетель лгал суду.

The witness was lying to the court.

Breakdown of Свидетель лгал суду.

to lie, to tell lies (imperfective)

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Questions & Answers about Свидетель лгал суду.

Why is суду in the dative case here?

The verb лгать (to lie) takes the dative case for the person or entity being lied to. Unlike in English where you use the preposition 'to' (lie to the court), Russian uses the dative case with no preposition: лгать суду.

Both лгал and врал mean 'lied.' Why is лгал used here?

It comes down to register. The verb врать is the most common word for lying in everyday conversation, but it is colloquial. Лгать is more formal and literary, making it the natural and expected choice for an official setting like a courtroom.

The translation says 'was lying.' Does лгал only mean a continuous action here?

Not necessarily, but because лгал is imperfective, it focuses on the ongoing process of lying (for example, throughout the testimony) or the general fact that lying occurred. If the sentence meant the witness told one specific, completed lie, it would use the perfective form солгал.

If the witness were a woman, would the word свидетель change?

The noun свидетель remains masculine even for a female witness, as it is a formal, professional role. However, the past tense verb would change to match her actual gender, making the sentence Свидетель лгала суду.