Learn Hardcore Russian: Турист идёт по красивому городу. - The tourist is walking through the beautiful city.

The preposition по here indicates movement taking place through, along, or around the beautiful city. In Russian, when you describe movement within an area (such as streets or a city), по always requires the dative case. That’s why город becomes городу and красивый changes to красивому—to agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

Why is the noun город in the dative case instead of the accusative case?

In this context, the preposition по governs the dative case. While the accusative is often used for direct objects, here the movement is described relative to the space within the city, so the noun город must be in the dative form (городу). The modification of the adjective follows the same rule, hence it is красивому.

What is the difference between идёт and ходит, and why is идёт used in this sentence?

Both идёт and ходит come from the verb идти (to go/walk), but they have different nuances. Идёт is used for a single, current, or unidirectional action—indicating that the tourist is presently walking through the city. Ходит, on the other hand, implies habitual or repeated actions (like “he walks” regularly). Since the sentence depicts one specific moment of movement, идёт is the correct choice.

Why is the subject simply Турист without any article like “the” or “a” in English?

Russian does not use articles, so there is no equivalent of “the” or “a” in the language. The word Турист can mean either “tourist” or “the tourist” depending on the context. The absence of an article is a normal feature of Russian grammar.

How does adjective-noun agreement work in this sentence with красивому городу?

In Russian, adjectives must agree with the nouns they modify in terms of gender, number, and case. Since город (city) is a masculine singular noun in the dative case due to the preposition по, the adjective красивый also appears in the dative masculine singular form as красивому. This agreement ensures that the sentence is grammatically correct and the descriptive relationship between the adjective and noun is clear.