Questions & Answers about Я купил набор инструментов.
Why is it купил and not покупал or купилa?
Купил is the masculine singular past tense form of the verb купить (to buy, perfective).
- купил = he bought / I bought if the speaker is male
- купила = the speaker is female
- покупал / покупала comes from покупать, the imperfective verb, which usually focuses on the process, repetition, or background action
In this sentence, купил is natural because it presents the purchase as a completed event: I bought a set of tools.
So:
- male speaker: Я купил набор инструментов.
- female speaker: Я купила набор инструментов.
Why does the verb show gender if the subject is I?
In Russian, the past tense is formed in a way that reflects gender and number, not person.
So in the past tense:
- я купил = I bought (male speaker)
- я купила = I bought (female speaker)
- мы купили = we bought
This is different from English, where I bought stays the same regardless of gender.
What case is набор in?