Instrumental case with быть and являться in the past tense
Posted: Mar 16th, 15, 22:27
Hello Russian language lovers
I made a question about the difference between быть and являться and part of the answer (written by the great forum user Taras) was the following:
There I saw that in the past tense both быть and являться are used in the instrumental case. Is it a coincidence or does it have some common origin? Maybe this explains the reason why быть in the past uses instrumental... or not?
I made a question about the difference between быть and являться and part of the answer (written by the great forum user Taras) was the following:
Taras wrote:In the past tense and in the future tense 'to be' can be expressed with 'быть' and 'являться'. In this case 'являться' is also more formal than 'быть', but still means the same. Examples:
Я был/являлся директором этой компании (I (was/have been/used to be) the CEO of this company).
Я буду директором этой компании (I'll be the CEO of this company).
Я буду являться директором этой компании.
There I saw that in the past tense both быть and являться are used in the instrumental case. Is it a coincidence or does it have some common origin? Maybe this explains the reason why быть in the past uses instrumental... or not?