Impersonal Construction: Dative or Accusative?
I read a page on Russian Impersonal constructions a few days ago by the RLM. It was all about impersonal constructions. But, it's just not clicking for me. For example: _"Пашу тошнило всю дорогу"_. Why does this sentence govern the neuter form of the verb? Another question I have is with this example: _"Едва самолёт взлетел, как один из моторов заело."_ Why does this also govern neuter form of the verb? I was taught earlier that impersonal construction use dative case, and these use accusative case? Please explain how to form impersonal constructions.
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1 Expert Answer
Inactive Tutor answered 04/02/19
Tutor
New to Wyzant
Impersonal Verbs
Impersonal verbs occur in two types of sentences.
1. When the sentence has no subject:
| Темнеть: темнеет. | It is getting dark. |
| Светать: светает. | It is getting light; dawn is breaking. |
| Морозить: морозит. | It is freezing. |
2. When the sentence has a logical subject but no grammatical one. This logical subject may be in the dative or in the accusative.
(a) In the dative case:
| Хотеться: мне хочется. | I feel like. |
| Казаться: вам кажется. | It seems to you. |
| Нездоровиться: ему нездоровится. | He does not feel well. |
(b) In the accusative case:
| Тошнить: меня тошнит. | I feel nauseous. |
| Знобить: меня знобит. | I have chills. |
| Лихорадить: её лихорадит. | She has a fever. |
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Inactive Tutor
In an impersonal type of sentence, in Past Tense, the action/state can be expressed by the form of neuter gender, singular. The noun is in Accusative form for animate, like "Паша - Пашу", while an inanimate noun, masc. gender, or a numeral "один" will not change the ending.06/22/22