Он положил руку на грудь.

on

Breakdown of Он положил руку на грудь.

• он: he
• положить: to put
• рука: the hand

Questions & Answers about Он положил руку на грудь.

Why is the verb положил written in this form?

Положил is the past tense, masculine singular form of положить.

Why it looks this way:

• положить = dictionary form / infinitive
• положил = he put / placed
• Russian past tense agrees with the subject in gender and number

So:

• он положил = he put
• она положила = she put
• оно положило = it put
• они положили = they put

Because the subject here is он, the verb has to be положил.

Why is it руку, not рука?

Because рука is the direct object of the verb, so it goes into the accusative case.

• Nominative: рука = hand
• Accusative singular: руку = hand

In this sentence, the person is doing something to the hand as an object of the action: he placed a/the hand somewhere.

A useful pattern:

• вижу руку = I see a/the hand
• поднял руку = raised a/the hand
• положил руку = placed a/the hand

So руку is exactly what you would expect after a transitive verb like положить.

Why is it на грудь, not на груди?