Questions & Answers about Я открыл ящик тумбочки и взял книгу.
Why is the expression ящик тумбочки, not тумбочка ящика?
In Russian, the head noun ящик (drawer) comes first, and the noun denoting possession тумбочка (nightstand) follows in the genitive case to show that the drawer belongs to the nightstand. Swapping them—тумбочка ящика—would literally mean nightstand of the drawer, which doesn’t make sense.
What case is тумбочки in, and why?
Тумбочки is genitive singular. The genitive case is used here to indicate possession or a part-whole relationship: the drawer belongs to the nightstand.
What case is книгу, and why?
Книгу is accusative singular feminine. It functions as the direct object of the transitive verb взять (to take), and Russian marks direct objects with the accusative case.
Why is the verb открыл in this form?
Открыл is the masculine singular past-tense form of the perfective verb открыть (to open). Perfective aspect indicates a completed action. A female speaker would say открыла, and a plural subject would use открыли.
Why is я used only once before открыл, and not repeated before ?