Breakdown of После плохой новости он быстро взял себя в руки.
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
плохой
bad
быстро
fast, quickly
новость
news
Questions & Answers about После плохой новости он быстро взял себя в руки.
The phrase взял себя в руки literally translates to "took himself into hands." Is this the standard idiom for "pulling oneself together"?
Why does новость become новости here, and why does the adjective end in -ой?
The preposition после (after) always requires the Genitive case. The word новость (news) is a feminine noun ending in a soft sign (3rd declension), so its Genitive form is новости. The feminine Genitive ending for the adjective плохая (bad) is плохой.
Why does the idiom use the Accusative в руки instead of the Prepositional в руках?
The verb взять (to take) implies an action or motion directed towards a result, answering the question "where to?" (куда?). Therefore, it triggers the Accusative case for direction (в руки), rather than the Prepositional case for static location (в руках).
If I want to say "I quickly pulled myself together," how does the pronoun себя change?
It doesn't change! The reflexive pronoun себя always refers back to the subject of the sentence, regardless of who is speaking. To say "I pulled myself together," you would just change the verb to match your own gender: Я быстро взял себя в руки (if you are male) or Я быстро взяла себя в руки (if you are female).