вменять + Dative + в вину + Accusative

Imputing Blame with Dative and Accusative

Level 5Sounds Like vmenâtʹ + datelʹnyj + v vinu + vinitelʹnyj

вменять (to impute) + [Person in Dative] + в вину (as a fault) + [Act in Accusative]

How It Works

The construction вменять + дательный + в вину + винительный is a sophisticated tool for formal communication, particularly in legal and journalistic contexts.

1. Syntactic Structure:

  • Verb: Use the imperfective вменять for ongoing processes or general statements, and the perfective вменить for completed actions.
  • The Person (Indirect Object): Must be in the dative case (кому?).
  • The Fixed Phrase: в вину. Note that вину is in the accusative case after the preposition в, indicating a transformation or categorization (literally 'into the category of fault').
  • The Act/Crime (Direct Object): The specific thing being blamed must be in the accusative case (что?).

2. Nuance and Register:
While the verb обвинять (to accuse) is common in everyday speech, вменять в вину is strictly formal. It implies a structured assessment where a specific action is 'counted' against someone's record. It is the primary language used in the Russian Criminal Code (Уголовный кодекс).

3. Usage Beyond Law:
Although primarily legal, it can be used in literature or formal essays to discuss moral failings or character flaws, often carrying a tone of gravity or irony.

Examples (4)

  1. Следствие вменило директору в вину сокрытие доходов.

    The investigation charged the director with concealing income.

    Word by Word: Investigation imputed to-director into fault concealment of-incomes.

    Here, 'директору' is dative and 'сокрытие' is accusative. This is a classic legal usage.

  2. Ему вменяют в вину халатность, повлекшую тяжкие последствия.

    He is being blamed for negligence that led to grave consequences.

    Word by Word: To-him they-impute into fault negligence, having-led-to grave consequences.

    The imperfective 'вменяют' is used here to describe the current state of the legal charges.

  3. Нельзя вменять человеку в вину его честность.

    One cannot hold a person's honesty against them.

    Word by Word: Impossible to-impute to-person into fault his honesty.

    This example shows the pattern used in a moral/philosophical context rather than a strictly criminal one.

  4. Суд вменил подсудимому в вину несколько эпизодов мошенничества.

    The court charged the defendant with several episodes of fraud.

    Word by Word: Court imputed to-defendant into fault several episodes of-fraud.

    A standard journalistic report of a court proceeding.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the Prepositional case for the word 'fault' (в вине).

    Ему вменили это в вине.
    Ему вменили это в вину.

    The phrase 'в вину' is a fixed construction using the accusative case to show the result of the 'imputing' action. The prepositional 'в вине' would imply location, which is incorrect here.

  • Putting the person in the Accusative case.

    Вменять его в вину ошибку.
    Вменять ему в вину ошибку.

    Learners often confuse this with 'обвинять его' (accuse him). However, 'вменять' requires the dative case for the person receiving the blame.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

вменять + Dative + в вину + AccusativeLevel 5Imputing Blame with Dative and Accusative

Learn This First

To learn this formal legal construction, you must first understand how the dative case marks indirect objects (the person blamed) and how the accusative case marks direct objects (the specific charge). Additionally, familiarity with the preposition 'в' followed by the accusative case is necessary to understand the fixed component 'в вину'.

Words in This Pattern

вменятьвина