Learn Hardcore Russian: Мой брат идёт по узкой дорожке. - My brother is walking along the narrow path.

Мой брат translates as My brother. Here, Мой is a possessive adjective that agrees with брат in gender (masculine), number (singular), and case (nominative). Unlike English, which uses articles and separate possessive pronouns, Russian simply uses the adjectival form without any articles.

Why is the verb идёт used in this sentence instead of ходит?

Russian distinguishes between unidirectional and multidirectional verbs of motion. Идёт (from идти) is the unidirectional form used to denote a specific, ongoing action (he is currently going). In contrast, ходит (from ходить) would imply habitual or repeated movement. Since the sentence refers to one specific instance of movement, идёт is the proper choice.

What tense and person is идёт in, and what does its ending indicate?

Идёт is in the present tense and is the third person singular form of the verb. The ending -ёт confirms that the action is happening now and is performed by a singular subject (in this case, брат).

What case is used in the phrase по узкой дорожке, and why is that case required?

The phrase uses the dative case. The preposition по when indicating movement along a surface requires its noun to be in the dative case. Thus, дорожка becomes дорожке, and the adjective узкой is likewise declined to match in dative feminine singular. This structure shows the spatial relationship of moving along the path.

How is the adjective узкой formed, and why does it differ from its nominative form узкая?

The adjective узкой is the dative form of узкая (its nominative feminine singular form meaning “narrow”). Since the noun дорожка is in the dative case following the preposition по, the adjective must likewise be in the dative form. The ending changes from -ая in the nominative to -ой in the dative, ensuring agreement in case, gender, and number.

Why is there no article (like “a” or “the”) in the sentence Мой брат идёт по узкой дорожке?

Russian does not use articles. While English requires articles to mark definiteness or indefiniteness (e.g., “a narrow path” or “the narrow path”), Russian conveys such meanings through context and other grammatical structures, so no articles are needed.