Learn Hardcore Russian: Я смотрю удивительный закат.

Russian does not use articles, so you don’t need to add one before удивительный закат. The meaning that would be carried by articles in English is understood from the context in Russian.

What case is закат in, and why does it look the same as the nominative form?

Although закат functions as the direct object (accusative case) of the sentence, it appears identical to the nominative form because it is an inanimate masculine noun. In Russian, the accusative of inanimate masculine nouns is typically the same as the nominative.

Does the verb смотрю indicate a current action or a habitual one, and how should it be translated into English?

The verb смотрю is the first-person singular present tense of смотреть. Depending on context, it can mean either “I am watching” (a current action) or “I watch” (a habitual or general action). In this sentence, it most naturally translates to “I watch” or “I’m watching.”

How does the adjective удивительный agree with the noun закат in this sentence?

In Russian, adjectives must agree with the nouns they modify in gender, number, and, often, case. Since закат is a masculine singular noun and—being inanimate—its accusative form looks like the nominative, the adjective удивительный is correctly used in its masculine singular form.

Why is the adjective удивительный placed before the noun закат? Is this word order fixed in Russian?

Placing the adjective before the noun, as in удивительный закат, is the standard and natural order in Russian for descriptive phrases—much like in English. While Russian does allow for some flexibility in word order to emphasize different parts of a sentence, the adjective–noun order is common and generally the default.