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Even in the most peaceful of regions, something happens."

one indefinite, unspecified region, the most peaceful one imaginable out of all regions

To express the idea of "something being the case even in the most extreme circumstances", in English you usually use the construction "the most + peaceful(singular) + of + regions(plural)".

Now I wonder how you idiomatically say this in Russian. Should both "мирном" and "краю" be in the singular? Or is it more common to use some other singular-plural combination?

Даже в самом мирном краю ...

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  • As shown below, the question of which part to be expressed in the singular or in the plural varies from language to language. In French: "Même dans les régions les plus paisibles, ...", both being in the plural. In German: "Selbst im Ruhigsten aller Länder, ...", with the singular and the plural being mixed.
    – Con-gras-tue-les-chiens
    Commented Jun 8, 2018 at 1:44
  • I think it would help if you would explain the context some more. "Even in the most peaceful land" what?
    – yury10578
    Commented Jun 8, 2018 at 4:10
  • @yury10578 Actually, it can be virtually anything, as I'm not talking about any specific context here. So I left it blank. "Even in the most peaceful region, you might see a bar fight or two every now and then" -- you name it.
    – Con-gras-tue-les-chiens
    Commented Jun 8, 2018 at 4:25
  • You may use both plural and singular here, because neither is a frequently used expression. Unless you are speaking of a land in geographical sense, you shall better use "в тихом месте" (only singular). Sounds more idiomatic to me.
    – AlexVB
    Commented Jun 8, 2018 at 6:06
  • Of Russian "ready-made" idioms I can only think of "Раз в год и палка стреляет" which shares some remote resemblance.
    – Arioch
    Commented Jun 8, 2018 at 9:00

2 Answers 2

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Your rendering is correct. Plural can also be used

Даже в самом мирном из out of (всех) краёв...

constructed virtually identical to the English most peaceful [out] of [all] regions

This form is less common than the first one.

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You can use both plural; "(даже) в самом мирном из краёв"; and singular: "(и) в самом мирном краю", only the form with plural might be bit more loaded emotionally.

Like, with singular you're telling that something (bad) might happen (even in the most peaceful... etc.). And you'd rather use plural to exclaim: "(to think that) something like this should happen! (in the most peaceful... etc.)".

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