Breakdown of В ресторане подают традиционные пельмени и борщ.
в
in
и
and
ресторан
the restaurant
пельмень
the dumpling
подавать
to serve
традиционный
traditional
борщ
the borscht
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Questions & Answers about В ресторане подают традиционные пельмени и борщ.
What does the phrase В ресторане mean, and why is ресторане in this form?
В ресторане means “in the restaurant.” The noun ресторан is in the prepositional case (ресторане) because in Russian the preposition в (meaning “in”) requires its complement to show location, which is expressed by the prepositional case.
Who or what is performing the action in the sentence, and why is there no explicit subject?
The verb подают is in the third person plural and means “serve” or “are served.” In Russian, it is common to omit the subject when the context makes it clear (an impersonal construction). Here, the sentence implies that in the restaurant, someone (or a staff team) serves the food, even though no specific subject is mentioned.
How does the adjective традиционные function in this sentence, and does it modify both пельмени and борщ?
Grammatically, традиционные is in the plural form and is placed directly before пельмени, clearly modifying it. While context may lead one to understand that both dishes are traditional, strictly speaking the adjective explicitly agrees only with пельмени. To modify both clearly, one would typically repeat or adjust the adjective for борщ (for example, традиционный борщ).
How does adjective-noun agreement work here, given that пельмени is plural and борщ is singular?
The adjective традиционные is in the nominative plural form to agree with пельмени, which is a plural noun. Although борщ is singular and would normally require a singular adjective (традиционный борщ), in everyday language speakers often rely on context to imply that both items share the adjective’s quality. This construction, while not perfectly parallel, is commonly accepted in informal usage.
How does the word order in this sentence compare to typical English constructs, and what effect does it have?
In Russian, word order is relatively flexible. Here the sentence begins with the location phrase В ресторане, which sets the scene immediately. In English, one might typically say, “Traditional pelmeni and borscht are served in the restaurant,” but the Russian order emphasizes where the action occurs. This inversion is common in Russian to highlight contextual details like location.