Learn Hardcore Russian: Моя собака лежит возле большого дома.

The preposition возле requires that the noun following it be in the genitive case. Therefore, дом changes to дома and the adjective большой is declined to большого to agree in case, gender, and number with the noun.

How does the adjective большой change its ending in this context?

In its base (nominative) form, the adjective is большой. However, since it modifies дом in the genitive case after возле, it takes the ending -ого, becoming большого. This change is necessary for proper adjective–noun agreement in the genitive.

What does the verb лежит convey in this sentence?

Лежит is the third-person singular form of the verb лежать, which means “to lie” or “to be lying down.” In this sentence, it indicates that the dog is in a resting or horizontal position near the house.

Why is there no separate word for “is” (the copular verb) in the sentence?

In Russian, the present tense copula (the equivalent of “is”) is usually omitted. The state or action is understood directly from the main verb—in this case, лежит—so there is no need to include a separate word for “is.”