Question from , asked on

The Translation of “I was recently surprised by this simple thought”

I’m reading a Dual Language book in which the English translation of the Russian is “I was recently surprised by this simple thought”. The original Russian is “Я недавно понял и удивился этой простой мысли”. The thing that confuses me is that I would have expected the word “thought” to be in the instrumental case but as I understand it the instrumental singular ending for feminine words ending in the soft sign is мыслью. Could someone tell me what case мысли is in and why?
Thank you
1 answer
Answered by on

Hi George,

The verb удивиться is followed by the Dative case, удивиться чему? I think the fact that confuses you is that in English the construction is "to be surprised by", so you think it is a passive construction in Russian, followed by the Instrumental case.

Я удивился его поведению. I was surprised by his behaviour.

Ask your question

We recommend our partners