Learn Hardcore Russian: Все читают книги.

Because Все is a plural subject—even though it conveys a collective idea—the verb читают must agree in number. In Russian, subject–verb agreement requires that the verb reflects the plural nature of Все.

What grammatical case is used for книги, and why does it look identical to its nominative form?

Книги is in the accusative case as the direct object of the sentence. For inanimate nouns in Russian, the accusative plural is identical in form to the nominative plural, which is why книги appears the same as it would in the subject position.

Is the word order Все читают книги fixed, or can it be rearranged in Russian?

Russian word order is quite flexible. Though Все читают книги follows the standard subject–verb–object order, you could rearrange it—for example, Книги читают все—to emphasize a different part of the sentence without changing its basic meaning.

What tense is the verb читают in, and what does that indicate about the action?

The verb читают is in the present tense. This tense indicates that the action of reading is happening currently, is habitual, or is considered a general truth.

Since Russian lacks articles like "a" or "the", how do learners know that книги refers to books in general?

Because Russian does not use articles, context is key. In Все читают книги, книги is understood in a general sense, meaning books as a whole rather than specific ones. Learners rely on context or additional descriptive words to determine whether a noun is meant to be indefinite or definite.

Could an English speaker mistakenly think that Все читают книги implies that every single person reads books, leaving no exceptions?

While the sentence does make a general statement that everyone reads books, it is often understood in context. If a speaker wanted to express that only a certain group or not literally every person does this, additional qualifiers would be used. In this case, Все is generally taken at face value, meaning all members of the group in question.