Я ставлю стакан на стол.

I put the glass on the table.

Breakdown of Я ставлю стакан на стол.

• я: I
• стол: the table
• на: on
• стакан: the glass
• ставить: to put

Questions & Answers about Я ставлю стакан на стол.

What case is стакан in, and how do you recognize it?

Стакан is in the accusative case as the direct object of the verb ставлю. For inanimate masculine nouns with a hard stem (like стол, стакан), the accusative form is identical to the nominative. You recognize it because it answers “What?” (Что?) after the verb: Я ставлю что? – стакан.

Why is стол also in the accusative case, even though there’s a preposition?

The preposition на can govern either the prepositional (location) or the accusative (direction) case. Here, because the action is placing something onto the table (motion toward a target), на takes the accusative: на стол (not на столе, which would mean “on the table” in a static sense).

What exactly does на столе mean, and how is it different?

На столе is на + prepositional case. It means “on the table” as a location (where something is).

• Я ставлю стакан на стол (accusative): I am putting the glass onto the table (movement).
• Стакан стоит на столе (prepositional): The glass is standing on the table (no movement).

Why do we use ставлю instead of поставлю?

Ставлю is the present tense of the imperfective verb ставить (“to be in the process of placing / to regularly place”).

• Imperfective (ставить): focuses on the ongoing action or repeated action. You can form present tense: я ставлю.
• Perfective (поставить): focuses on the completed action. It has no present; you use the future: я поставлю (“I will put down / I will place”).

How do you form the past tense of ставить in this sentence?

Change ставить to its past tense form, which agrees in gender and number with the subject. For 1st person singular masculine or generic:

• Я ставил стакан на стол – “I was putting the glass on the table” / “I used to put the glass on the table.”
  For a single completed action with perfective:
• Я поставил стакан на стол – “I put the glass on the table.”

What’s the difference between ставить and класть?

Both mean “to put,” but they differ in emphasis:

• Ставить: to place something so it stands upright (e.g., bottles, glasses) or in a fixed position.
• Класть: to lay something down, usually horizontally (e.g., a book, a hand).
  Native speakers choose based on the object’s orientation and the context.

How is ставлю pronounced, and where’s the stress?

The stress is on the second syllable: ста́влю.
Phonetic approximation: [stahv-LYOO], with a clear v (as in “have”) and palatalized л’ before ю.

Can I change the word order, for example, Я на стол ставлю стакан?

Yes, Russian has flexible word order. Placing на стол before ставлю shifts emphasis onto the destination (“it’s the table that I’m putting the glass on”). The basic meaning stays the same, but the focus changes.

How would I ask “Where are you putting the glass?” in Russian?

Use the question word куда (where to?):
Куда ты ставишь стакан?
Literally: “Where-to you put (are putting) the glass?”

What is the aspect pair for ставить, and when would I use it?

The pair is ставить (imperfective) ↔ поставить (perfective).

• Use ставить to talk about process, habits, repeated actions, or present tense.
• Use поставить to indicate a single, completed action (often in past or future perfective):
  • Я поставил стакан на стол.
  • Он поставит стакан на стол завтра.