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Learn Hardcore Russian: Подача была короткой. - The serve was short.

Hardcore Russian
/Playing table tennis with friends
/Подача была короткой.

Подача была короткой.

Word

Подача была короткой.

Meaning

The serve was short.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Hardcore Russian

Lesson

Playing table tennis with friends

Breakdown of Подача была короткой.

короткий

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Questions & Answers about Подача была короткой.

Why is короткой not короткая?

Because короткой is in the instrumental case, which is very commonly used for the predicate adjective after быть in the past tense.

So in:

Подача была короткой.

подача = subject, nominative
была = was
короткой = adjective agreeing with подача, but in the instrumental

This is a very standard pattern in Russian:

Игра была интересной. = The game was interesting.
Комната была маленькой. = The room was small.

A nominative form like короткая is sometimes possible in Russian in certain contexts, but короткой is the normal form learners should expect here.

Why is была feminine?

Because подача is a feminine singular noun.

In the past tense, Russian verbs agree with the subject in gender and number:

masculine: был
feminine: была
neuter: было
plural: были

Since подача is feminine, you get:

Подача была ...

What case is подача in?

It is in the nominative singular because it is the subject of the sentence.

The basic structure is:

Подача = the subject
была = the verb
короткой = the description of the subject

So this is a simple subject + verb + predicate adjective sentence.

What is the dictionary form of короткой?

The dictionary form is короткий.

That is the masculine nominative singular form, which is the standard form Russian dictionaries list for adjectives.

Here are some related forms:

короткий — masculine nominative singular
короткая — feminine nominative singular
короткое — neuter nominative singular
короткие — plural nominative
короткой — feminine singular instrumental

So короткой is just the grammatically required form in this sentence.

Could Russian leave out была here?

Not in a normal full past-tense sentence.

In the present tense, Russian often omits to be:

Подача короткая. = The serve is short.

But in the past tense, you normally need the past form of быть:

Подача была короткой. = The serve was short.

So the omission works in the present, not normally in the past.

Could this be said with a short-form adjective, like Подача была коротка?

Grammatically, a short-form adjective like коротка does exist, but in this kind of sentence короткой is much more natural and neutral.

Compare:

Подача была короткой. — normal, standard
Подача была коротка. — possible, but more literary or stylistically marked

For most learners, the long adjective in the instrumental after была is the pattern to learn first.

Why does короткой end in -ой? Could it be -ою?

Yes, -ой and -ою are both possible instrumental feminine singular endings for many adjectives.

So both of these are grammatically possible:

короткой
короткою

But -ой is much more common in everyday modern Russian prose and speech.
The -ою ending often sounds more formal, poetic, or old-fashioned.

So Подача была короткой is the normal modern choice.

Can the word order be changed?

Yes. Russian word order is flexible because the grammar is shown by endings, not just position.

The neutral order is:

Подача была короткой.

But other orders are possible for emphasis, for example:

Короткой была подача.
Была подача короткой? (in a special context, though this sounds less neutral)

Changing the order usually changes focus or emphasis, not the core meaning.

How is this sentence stressed and pronounced?

подАча былА корОткой

A rough pronunciation guide:

подача → pa-DA-cha
была → by-LA
короткой → ka-ROT-koy

A learner should especially notice that Russian stress is movable and must be learned with each word.

Is this sentence a complete, natural Russian sentence?

Yes, absolutely. It is a normal, complete sentence.

Its structure is very typical:

[noun in nominative] + [past tense of быть] + [adjective in instrumental]

This is a very useful model for learners, for example:

Погода была хорошей. = The weather was good.
Идея была интересной. = The idea was interesting.
Подача была короткой. = The serve was short.

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