Миска с супом стоит на столе.

The bowl of soup is on the table.

Breakdown of Миска с супом стоит на столе.

• с: with
• стоять: to stand
• стол: the table
• на: on
• суп: the soup
• миска: the bowl

Questions & Answers about Миска с супом стоит на столе.

Which case is миска in, and why isn't it миску or миски?

миска is in the nominative case because it’s the subject of the sentence (“the bowl does something”).

• миску would be accusative, used if the bowl were the object of an action (“I see the bowl”).
• миски could be genitive (“of the bowl”), dative (“to the bowl”), or nominative plural, none of which fit here.

Why is there a с before супом, and why is суп in the form супом?

The preposition с meaning “with” requires the instrumental case.

• суп (soup) in instrumental becomes супом (“with soup”).
• So с супом literally means “with soup.”

Can I say миска супа instead of миска с супом, and what’s the difference?

Yes, миска супа is also possible and uses the genitive (супа) to indicate the content (“a bowl of soup”).
Nuance:

• миска супа = “a bowl of soup” (focus on the portion of soup).
• миска с супом = “a bowl with soup” (focus on the bowl that contains soup).

Why is it на столе, not на стол, and when do you use each?

• на столе is на
  • prepositional case (столе) for location (“on the table”).
• на стол would be на
  • accusative case for motion toward (“put it on the table”).
    So static location ⇒ prepositional; direction/action toward ⇒ accusative.

Why is the verb стоит used here? Could we use лежит instead?

In Russian, position verbs reflect the object’s orientation:

• стоять (стоит) for things standing upright (e.g. a bowl on its base).
• лежать for things lying flat (e.g. a book on its back).
  Since a bowl typically stands, we use стоит.

How do we know стоит here means “stands/is located” and not “costs”?

Russian has two verbs spelled стоить:

• “to stand” (position) – стоит with на for location.
• “to cost” – you’d ask Сколько это стоит? (“How much does it cost?”) without на and in a pricing context.
  Context (location, bowl on table) makes the meaning “stands/is located.”

Can we change the word order to На столе стоит миска с супом? Does it change the meaning?

Yes. Russian word order is flexible.

• Миска с супом стоит на столе (neutral).
• На столе стоит миска с супом shifts emphasis to where (“It’s on the table”).
  The core meaning stays the same.

Why aren’t there words for “a” or “the” in this sentence?

Russian has no articles. Definiteness/indefiniteness comes from context, word order, intonation or additional words (e.g. этот, тот for “this/that”).

Where do you place the stress in Миска с супом стоит на столе?

MÍS-ka s SÚ-pom sto-ÎT na sto-LÉ

• МИ́ска (first syllable)
• СУ́Пом (first syllable)
• СТОИ́Т (second syllable)
• СТОЛЕ́ (second syllable)

When should I use с versus со as the preposition “with”?

• Use с before most words, especially if they start with one consonant (с супом, с другом).
• Use со for easier pronunciation if the next word starts with certain clusters or pronouns:
  • со мной, со всеми, со вторника.
  In с супом there’s no awkward cluster, so we keep с.