Breakdown of Я сходил в аптеку за лекарствами.
я
I
в
to
за
for
сходить
to go
аптека
the pharmacy
лекарство
the medication
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Questions & Answers about Я сходил в аптеку за лекарствами.
What does the perfective verb сходил indicate in this sentence?
Сходил is the perfective past tense form of сходить. This means the action of going to the pharmacy was completed—implying not only that the speaker went there but also that they returned. It conveys a one-time, finished outing.
Why is сходил used instead of a verb like пошел?
While both сходил and пошел can translate as "went," сходил specifically implies a short, round-trip excursion (i.e., going to get something and coming back). Using пошел would simply denote the act of setting off without the inherent suggestion of returning.
What is the role of в аптеку, and why is аптеку in the accusative case?
В аптеку indicates the destination of the movement—to the pharmacy. In Russian, when expressing direction with the preposition в (meaning "to" or "into"), the noun following it is put into the accusative case. Therefore, аптеку is the accusative form of аптека.
Why is the preposition за used before лекарствами, and why does лекарствами appear in the instrumental case?
The preposition за is used here to express the purpose of the trip: to fetch or pick up medicine. In such constructions, Russian requires the noun following за to be in the instrumental case. Thus, лекарствами is the instrumental form of лекарства and shows that the speaker went to the pharmacy in order to get medicine.
Does the sentence imply that the speaker returned home after visiting the pharmacy?
Yes, the use of сходил implies a complete, round trip. It tells us that the speaker not only went to the pharmacy but also came back. The perfective form inherently suggests that the action is fully completed.
How would the sentence change if a female speaker were to describe the same action?
If a female speaker were describing the action, the past tense verb must agree with the feminine gender. The sentence would change to: Я сходила в аптеку за лекарствами. Only the verb form changes; the rest of the sentence remains the same.