Learn Hardcore Russian: Дети играют возле фонтана даже в жаркий день. - Children play near the fountain even on a hot day.

The preposition возле means "near" or "beside" and always requires the noun following it to be in the genitive case. In this sentence, фонтана is the genitive form of фонтан ("fountain"), indicating that the children are playing by or near the fountain.

How is the phrase "даже в жаркий день" structured, and what does it mean?

The phrase "даже в жаркий день" translates as "even on a hot day." It consists of: • даже – an adverb meaning "even," which adds emphasis. • в жаркий день – a prepositional phrase where в ("in" or "on") governs день ("day"). Here, жаркий is an adjective that agrees with день in gender, number, and case (masculine singular and in the appropriate accusative form for an inanimate noun). The entire phrase provides extra context, suggesting that the children play despite the heat.

Why is the verb играют used, and what information does its form give about the subject?

The verb играют is the third-person plural present tense form of играть ("to play"). Its conjugation shows that the subject is plural, which corresponds with дети ("children"). This verb form confirms that multiple children are engaged in the activity of playing.

Why does the sentence use the order: subject, verb, followed by adverbial modifiers? Is this typical in Russian?

While Russian word order is quite flexible, a common structure is to start with the subject, then the verb, and finally add additional information such as location or conditions. In this sentence, дети (subject) is followed by играют (verb), and then the phrases возле фонтана (location) and даже в жаркий день (circumstantial detail) provide context. This order helps emphasize who is doing the action first before explaining where and under what conditions the action takes place.

What is the significance of using даже in the sentence?

The adverb даже means "even" and is used to highlight contrast or emphasize a surprising element. Its use in the sentence indicates that the children continue to play near the fountain even on a hot day, underscoring that the high temperature doesn’t stop their activity. It adds a nuance of unexpectedness or perseverance to the statement.

How does the lack of articles in Russian, as seen in this sentence, differ from English, and what should a learner keep in mind?

Unlike English, Russian does not use articles such as "the" or "a/an." In the sentence, дети simply means "children" without any article, and фонтан (in its genitive form фонтана) also appears without an article. English speakers need to remember that Russian conveys meaning through context and case endings rather than through articles, so it’s important to focus on word endings and context to understand definiteness or indefiniteness.