Моя собака лежит возле большого дома.

the house

Breakdown of Моя собака лежит возле большого дома.

• мой: my
• большой: big
• собака: the dog
• лежать: to lie
• возле: near

Questions & Answers about Моя собака лежит возле большого дома.

What grammatical case is used for большого дома, and why?

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.”

What function does the preposition возле serve in the sentence?

Возле means “near” or “by,” and it establishes the spatial relationship between the subject (собака) and the location described by большого дома. Because возле governs the genitive case, it also influences the form of the following noun and its adjective.

How does the possessive adjective моя function in Моя собака?

The adjective моя means “my” and is used to indicate possession. It comes before the noun собака and agrees with it in gender and number (feminine, singular), thereby clearly designating “my dog.”