Learn Hardcore Russian: Папа ставит чашки и тарелки на полку.

Ставит is the third-person singular present tense of the imperfective verb ставить (“to put, to place”). It literally means “(he) is putting” or “(he) puts.” The ending -ит marks it as he/she/it in present tense for second-conjugation verbs like ставить.

Why is папа masculine if it ends in -а?

Most Russian nouns ending in -а are feminine, but папа (“dad”) is an exception: its gender follows its meaning (a male parent). Semantically masculine nouns can end in -а; Russian gender is not determined by the ending alone but also by natural gender.

What case are чашки and тарелки, and why do they look like the nominative?

Both чашки and тарелки are in the accusative plural. Since they are inanimate feminine nouns of the first declension, their accusative plural form is identical to the nominative plural (drop -а, add -и). They answer the question “whom/what is he putting?” – “he is putting cups and plates.”

Why is на полку in the accusative case rather than the prepositional?

The preposition на can govern either the accusative (direction/motion) or the prepositional (location/static). Here it’s на + accusative because папа is placing objects onto the shelf—motion toward a goal. If he were already on the shelf (location), you’d use на + prepositional (e.g., на полке “on the shelf”).

What’s the difference between ставить and поставить?

This is a classic aspect pair. Ставить is imperfective: it describes an ongoing, habitual, or repeated action (“to be putting,” “to put regularly”). Поставить is perfective: it describes a single, completed action or the moment of placement (“to put once,” “to have put”).

Why isn’t there an article like the before папа?

Russian has no definite or indefinite articles. You simply say папа for “dad,” and context tells you whether it’s “the dad,” “a dad,” or “my dad.” If you need emphasis, you can add a possessive: мой папа = “my dad.”

How do you form the plural of чашка and тарелка?

Both are first-declension feminine nouns ending in -а:

Singular: чашка → drop -а, add -и → чашки
Singular: тарелка → drop -а, add -и → тарелки

That gives you the nominative (and, for inanimate, accusative) plural forms.

Is the word order Папа ставит чашки и тарелки на полку flexible?

Yes. Russian word order is relatively flexible due to its case system. This S-V-O-PP (Subject-Verb-Object-Prepositional Phrase) sequence is the neutral, unmarked order. You could say На полку папа ставит чашки и тарелки for emphasis (“It’s onto the shelf that dad is putting cups and plates”).

Where is the stress in чашки, тарелки, and полку, and does it change in different forms?

The stress stays on the root in all these forms:

ча́шка → ча́шки
таре́лка → таре́лки
по́лка → по́лку
Stress doesn’t shift in these basic declensions, so you can confidently pronounce them as above.