Learn Hardcore Russian: Текст книги содержал интересные факты. - The text of the book contained interesting facts.

In Russian, a noun in the genitive often shows possession or relation. Here Текст книги literally means “the text of the book.” The genitive книги tells you whose text it is.

Why does the verb содержал end in -л and not -ло or -ла?

Russian past-tense verbs agree in gender and number with their subject. Содержал is masculine singular because its subject текст is a masculine noun. If the subject were neuter, you’d say содержало; feminine would be содержала; plural содержали.

Why are интересные факты in the accusative plural form?

They are the direct object of содержал, so they take the accusative case. Факты is an inanimate noun, and inanimate masculine nouns have an accusative form identical to the nominative. Hence факты stays the same, and the adjective интересные matches in number, gender, and case.

Why is the adjective интересные spelled with -ые instead of -ие?

Russian adjectives in the nominative/accusative plural have two main endings: -ые after hard-stem adjectives and -ие after soft stems. Интересный is a hard-stem adjective, so its plural is интересные.

Could you replace содержал with включал and keep the same meaning?

They are close but not identical. Содержал means “contained” in the sense of “had as its content,” while включал means “included” more in the sense of “listed among other things.” Depending on nuance, you might choose one or the other.

Why isn’t there an article like the or a before Текст книги?

Russian does not use articles. Definiteness and indefiniteness are understood from context, so you simply say Текст книги for “the text of the book” or “a text of the book,” depending on what you mean.

How would you say this sentence in the present tense?

Change the past tense содержал to the present tense third-person singular содержит. The sentence becomes: Текст книги содержит интересные факты.