Breakdown of Правительство обсуждает решение.
Questions & Answers about Правительство обсуждает решение.
Which word is the subject, and which word is the object?
The subject is правительство because it is the thing doing the action.
The object is решение because it is the thing being discussed.
So the structure is:
- Правительство = subject
- обсуждает = verb
- решение = direct object
Why is обсуждает singular if a government is made up of many people?
Because правительство is grammatically singular in Russian.
Even though a government consists of many people, Russian treats правительство as one unit, so the verb must also be singular:
- правительство обсуждает = singular
- not правительство обсуждают
This is similar to English the government is discussing... in varieties of English that use singular agreement.
What gender is правительство?
Правительство is neuter.
You can often recognize neuter nouns by endings like -о or -е, and правительство ends in -о.
Because it is neuter singular, the verb is in the 3rd person singular form: обсуждает.
What case is решение here?
Here решение is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of обсуждает.
However, for many inanimate neuter singular nouns, the accusative form is the same as the nominative form. So:
- nominative: решение
- accusative: решение
That is why the form does not change.
Why doesn’t решение change its ending here?
Because it is an inanimate neuter singular noun, and in Russian that usually means:
So after a verb like обсуждать, you still get решение, not a different-looking form.
If you saw another case, the form would change, for example:
- нет решения = genitive
- к решению = dative
- с решением = instrumental
- о решении = prepositional
Does обсуждает mean discusses or is discussing?
It can mean either one, depending on context.
Russian present-tense imperfective verbs often cover both:
- discusses
- is discussing
So Правительство обсуждает решение could mean:
- The government discusses the decision
or - The government is discussing the decision
Context tells you which is more natural.
What is the infinitive of обсуждает, and what aspect is it?
The infinitive is обсуждать.
It is imperfective aspect, which is used for:
- ongoing actions
- repeated actions
- general processes
Its perfective partner is usually обсудить.
So:
- обсуждает = is discussing / discusses
- обсудит = will discuss, will finish discussing
In this sentence, the imperfective form focuses on the process of discussion, not on completion.
Does обсуждать need a preposition before the thing being discussed?
No. Обсуждать normally takes a direct object with no preposition.
So you say:
- обсуждать решение
- обсуждать вопрос
- обсуждать проблему
Not:
- обсуждать о решении ❌
This is different from some verbs where Russian does use a preposition.
Can the word order change?
Yes. Russian word order is more flexible than English word order.
The neutral order here is:
- Правительство обсуждает решение.
But other orders are possible for emphasis:
- Решение обсуждает правительство. = emphasizes it is the government that is discussing it
- Правительство решение обсуждает. = can emphasize the action or sound more contrastive
Even when the order changes, the basic meaning can stay similar because the case system helps show each word’s role.
Why is there no word for the in the sentence?
Russian has no articles like the or a/an.
So правительство can mean:
- the government
- sometimes just government, depending on context
And решение can mean:
- the decision
- a decision, depending on context
Russian leaves that kind of information to context rather than using articles.
How do you pronounce the sentence, and where is the stress?
The stress is:
- правИтельство
- обсуждАет
- решЕние
So the full sentence is:
правИтельство обсуждАет решЕние
A rough pronunciation guide is:
pra-VEE-tyel-stva ab-soozh-DA-yet ree-SHE-nee-ye
The most important thing for a learner is to place the stress correctly, because stress in Russian is very important.
Is решение singular or plural? What would the plural be?
Решение is singular.
The plural is решения.
So:
- решение = one decision
- решения = decisions
In your sentence, решение is singular, so the meaning is one decision.
Sign up free — start using our AI language tutor
Start learning RussianMaster Russian — from Правительство обсуждает решение to fluency
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓Infinitely deep — unlimited vocabulary and grammar
- ✓Fast-paced — build complex sentences from the start
- ✓Unforgettable — efficient spaced repetition system
- ✓ AI tutor to answer your grammar questions