I was given this sentence: Our names are Misha and Masha They told me to translate it and i translated it like this: Наш зовут Миша и Маша But the correct answer: Нас зовут Миша и Маша Why is нас(us) used in this case instead of наш(our)?
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2I'm always saying that difference between whom and who is a rare example of English language feature that easier to grasp to a Russian speaker rather than English-only speaker )– shabunc ♦Jan 1, 2019 at 23:03
1 Answer
The literal translation of the phrase "Нас зовут Миша и Маша" is not "Our names are Misha and Masha", but "We are called Misha and Masha". I.e. "зовут" is a verb.
And so "we are called" = "нас зовут" (It's like "They call us")
If it was said "Наши имена Миша и Маша" (it's literal translation of "Our names are Misha and Masha") then it would be "Our names" = "Наши имена" (BTW, plural "Наши", not singular "Наш").