Question 1

Why is восьмой in that form instead of восьмая or восьмое?

Accepted Answer

The noun студент is masculine, singular, and in the nominative case as the subject of the sentence. Ordinal numbers in Russian act like adjectives and must agree in gender, number, and case with the noun they modify. The masculine nominative singular form of “eighth” is восьмой, so it matches студент.

Question 2

What case is студент in, and why is it in that case?

Accepted Answer

студент is in the nominative singular case because it is the subject of the sentence—the one performing the action (sitting).

Question 3

What preposition is у, and why is it used here instead of в or на?

Accepted Answer

у means “by” or “at” (in the sense of proximity). It indicates that the student is sitting right next to the window.  
• в would mean “in” or “into” (inside something)  
• на would mean “on” or “onto” (on a surface)  
Neither of those conveys “beside” the way у does.

Question 4

What case is окна, and why does у require that case?

Accepted Answer

окна is in the genitive singular. The preposition у always governs the genitive case when expressing location “at/near” something.

Question 5

There are no words for “the” or “a” in this sentence. How does Russian show definiteness or indefiniteness?

Accepted Answer

Russian does not use articles like “the” or “a.” Definiteness or indefiniteness is usually inferred from context, word order, or by adding demonstratives (этот, какой-нибудь, etc.). In this sentence, the ordinal восьмой (“the eighth”) already implies that it’s a specific student.

Question 6

Can I change the word order, for example saying У окна сидит восьмой студент?

Accepted Answer

Yes. У окна сидит восьмой студент is grammatically correct.  
• Starting with У окна puts emphasis on the location (“By the window”).  
• The original Восьмой студент сидит у окна is more neutral and starts by identifying the student.

Question 7

Could восьмой stand alone without студент, as in Восьмой сидит у окна?

Accepted Answer

Yes, if the context has already made it clear you’re talking about students. Then восьмой functions like a noun: “the eighth one.”  
Example:  
– Кто ещё отвечает сегодня?  
– Восьмой сидит у окна.

Question 8

Could I use возле окна instead of у окна, and would it change the meaning?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you can say сидит возле окна. Both mean “sits by the window,” but:  
• у окна implies sitting immediately next to the window.  
• возле окна suggests being in the vicinity of the window (possibly a bit farther away).

Question 9

How would you ask “Which student is sitting by the window?” to get the answer Восьмой студент сидит у окна?

Accepted Answer

You’d ask:  
«Который по счёту студент сидит у окна?»  
Literally: “Which student by count is sitting by the window?” This invites an ordinal-number answer like восьмой студент.

Question 10

How is восьмой pronounced, and where is the stress?

Accepted Answer

It’s pronounced [вос-мо́й] with the stress on the second syllable: восьМОЙ. The soft sign (ь) after “с” indicates that the “s” is softened ([с’]).

Восьмой студент сидит у окна.

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