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Questions & Answers about Мы строим школу.
Why does школу end with -у instead of -а?
Russian marks direct objects with the accusative case. A feminine noun ending in -а (like школа) changes that -а to -у in the singular accusative. So школа → школу because it’s the object of строим.
Why is there no word for “a” or “the” before школу?
Russian doesn’t have articles. Definiteness (the) or indefiniteness (a) is conveyed by context, not by separate words. You simply say школу and rely on surrounding sentences or shared knowledge.
Is the pronoun Мы mandatory? Can I just say Строим школу?
The verb ending -им in строим already tells you it’s first-person plural (“we”). So yes, you can omit Мы: Строим школу still means “We are building a school.” Including Мы adds emphasis or clarity.
What tense and aspect is строим, and how do you express “are building” in Russian?
Строим is present tense, imperfective aspect of строить (“to build”). Imperfective verbs cover both simple present and continuous actions in Russian. So Мы строим школу can mean either “We build schools (generally)” or “We are building a school (right now),” depending on context.