На море я купался и загорал.

At the sea, I swam and sunbathed.

Breakdown of На море я купался и загорал.

• я: I
• на: at
• и: and
• море: the sea
• купаться: to swim
• загорать: to sunbathe

Questions & Answers about На море я купался и загорал.

What does на море mean, and why is the preposition на used with море in this sentence?

На море literally translates to “at the sea” or “by the sea.” In Russian, the preposition на is used with various locations, including bodies of water, to indicate where an action takes place. Unlike English, Russian does not use articles (like “the”), so на море efficiently describes the setting without extra words.

Why is the subject я placed after на море instead of at the beginning of the sentence?

Russian word order is flexible and often differs from the standard English subject–verb–object format. In this sentence, the location на море is emphasized by coming first, setting the stage for the action. Placing я (meaning “I”) after the location is a common stylistic choice in Russian, allowing the speaker to highlight where the activities occurred.

Why are the verbs купался and загорал in the masculine, singular past tense form, and what do their endings indicate?

Both verbs are in the past tense because the sentence describes actions completed in the past. The endings -лся in купался and -л in загорал show that the actions refer to a masculine singular subject. In Russian, past tense verb endings change according to the gender and number of the subject, and no auxiliary verbs are needed to form the past tense.

Why is the verb купался written reflexively (with the ending -ся), while загорал is not?

The reflexive ending -ся in купался indicates that the action of swimming or bathing is performed by the subject on themselves. In Russian, some verbs require a reflexive construction to show that the subject engages in an activity personally. On the other hand, загорал (meaning “sunbathed”) does not demand this reflexive form since it describes an action that does not inherently involve the subject acting upon themselves in the same way.

What is the difference between купаться and плавать, and why is купался used in this context?

While both verbs relate to water, купаться specifically refers to bathing or swimming for leisure—often involving swimming in a natural setting such as the sea—where there is an implication of personal bathing or enjoying the water. Плавать, however, generally means “to swim” in the sense of motion through water without the connotation of bathing or leisure. Since the sentence emphasizes relaxing activities at the sea, купался (from купаться) is the appropriate choice.