Learn Hardcore Russian: Мой друг говорит, что дом большой.

This sentence is a complex sentence made up of a main clause and a subordinate clause. The main clause is Мой друг говорит (“My friend says”), and the subordinate clause is что дом большой (“that the house is big”). The subordinate clause serves as indirect speech, reporting what the friend says.

What role does the word что play in the sentence?

Что is a subordinating conjunction in this context. It introduces the indirect speech clause, functioning much like the English word that when linking the main clause (Мой друг говорит) to the reported content (дом большой).

Why is the adjective большой placed after the noun дом instead of before it?

In Russian, when an adjective forms the predicate of a sentence (describing the subject’s state), it typically follows the noun. Here, дом большой is a predicate construction equivalent to the English the house is big. If the adjective were attributive (directly modifying the noun as an adjective before it), you might see a different structure, such as большой дом, but that is not the case here.

Why is there a comma before что?

According to Russian punctuation rules, a subordinate clause introduced by что is separated from the main clause with a comma. This comma helps to clearly signal that what follows is the content of what is being said (i.e., the indirect speech).

Why is the verb говорит in the present tense, and how does it compare to English?

The verb говорит is in the present tense, which directly translates as says. Even though говорить can mean “to speak” or “to talk,” in this context it is used to report a current or habitual action. This usage aligns with the English sentence My friend says that the house is big.

How does the possessive adjective мой function with respect to друг in this sentence?

The possessive adjective мой means my and is placed before друг (“friend”). It agrees in gender, number, and case with друг, demonstrating a key aspect of Russian grammar where adjectives must match the nouns they modify.