Asked • 03/19/19

Nominative after "что за"?

In my cherished second-hand 1958 *Assimil* textbook *Le russe sans peine* I see the question >Это что за работа ? Why the nominative case, where I would expect an accusative?

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Lyudmila G. answered • 03/19/19

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If a question is "что" the aswer is in the nominative case.

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Yelena F.

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I can add that this question is very similar to "Какая это работа?", but a participle "за" can make a question more emotional by adding an additional meaning doubt or a strong feeling or giving it more colloquial form.
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11/15/19

Yelena F.

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I could add a couple of examples, though the meaning of the sentences is positive. For example, in L. Tolstoy's "War and Peace", the main female character Natasha says about herself: «Что за прелесть эта Наташа!" or A. Pushkin said about the Russian folk tales “Что за прелесть эти сказки, каждая есть поэма!”
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01/22/20

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