Questions & Answers about Я прочитал новую книгу.
What does the sentence Я прочитал новую книгу mean in English?
It translates to "I read the new book." The sentence indicates that the speaker completed reading a book that is described as new.
Why is the verb прочитал in the masculine form?
In Russian, past tense verbs agree with the gender of the subject. Here, the subject Я (I) is understood to be male, so the past tense form прочитал is masculine. If a female speaker were saying it, the form would be прочитала.
What aspect is the verb прочитал in, and what does that signify?
The verb прочитал is in the perfective aspect, which indicates that the action—reading the book—was completed. This contrasts with the imperfective aspect (as in читал), which would imply an ongoing or habitual action.
Why do the adjective новую and the noun книгу have these specific endings?
Both новую (the adjective) and книгу (the noun) are in the accusative case, which is used for direct objects in Russian. The adjective must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case. Since книга is a feminine noun and its accusative singular form requires the ending -у for adjectives, новый becomes новую.