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Which verb or a combination of verbs would best describe the act of starting a "серия убийств" (I want to keep "серия убийств", but the grammatical case can be different from Nominative)?

"Начал серию убийств"?

"Приступил к серии убийств"?

"Предпринял серию убийств"?

"Пустился в совершение серии убийств"?

Other?

brilliant
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    Мы уже знаем о серии убийств, значит: совершил серию убийств – Eugene Oct 21 '18 at 11:30
  • @Eugene But what if we speak in hindsight? For example, "At that time he had only started that серию убийств and everybody knew that more murders would follow soon" – brilliant Oct 21 '18 at 11:40
  • We can't pretend there was nothing. The killings have already occurred. Talking about events in the past, we already know that these were serial murders. Quassnoi's answer is what I wanted to say. – Eugene Oct 22 '18 at 15:05
  • @Еugene - You don't have to pretend when you are speaking about one specific day in the past when only one murder had happened (out of the serious of murders as it is known now). However, if you use "Совершил серию убийств" for that day when, in fact, only one murder had been carried out, then you would be a liar. – brilliant Oct 22 '18 at 15:15
  • Once again. Quassnoi's answer: совершил первое(убийство) из серии убийств. – Eugene Oct 22 '18 at 15:20
  • @Еugene - Rest assured I've read his answer, so you don't need to re-paste it here. However, "совершил первое(убийство) из серии убийств" is not the same as "Совершил серию убийств", which was your original suggestion. – brilliant Oct 22 '18 at 15:22
  • Yes, not the same. Therefore, I wrote only a comment, not a complete answer. The key point here is the perfect form of the verb "совершил", that is, the action has already been completed. Even if we are talking about the day before the first crime: "Он ещё не совершил своё первое убийство (из серии убийств)" – Eugene Oct 22 '18 at 15:42
  • @brilliant: what exactly do you consider the start of the series: is it the same as the beginning of the first murder (say the moment the murderer just drew their gun or knife) or its completion, when they have already taken their victim's life? In other words, is it the same event as приступил к совершению убийства or the same as совершил убийство if we're talking of the first murder? – Quassnoi Oct 22 '18 at 15:47
  • @Quassnoi - "or its completion, when they have already taken their victim's life?" - The second one. It's like in the following in "...so his first victim was now dead... and that was how he started that серия убийств" – brilliant Oct 22 '18 at 17:30

3 Answers3

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I would use совершил первое из серии убийств

Quassnoi
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Начал совершать серийные убийства (this one doesn't meet the requirement but is the most idiomatic)

Приступил к совершению серии убийств (if the series was preplanned)

The word серия in Russian doesn't blend in well with the verbs suggested in the originally proposed variants

Баян Купи-ка
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If that phrase just introduces some citizen as a serial killer, the natural form would be:

... совершил серию убийств.

After such an introduction it becomes possible to discuss chronology, e. g. sequential number of a particular murder in the series, etc.

The other words like предпринял, пустился, приступил, затеял, etc. are only possible within proper context while discussing the serial killer's motive and its particular details.

Alex_ander
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    My question is about the act of starting a "серия убийств", so "совершил серию убийств" is not needed here because it implies, rather, the completion of "серия убийств". Besides, it is not necessary to have the introduction first. Consider this sentence: "Then he started a series of murders and within just five months became the most wanted serial killer in the state" – brilliant Oct 24 '18 at 04:14