Нижний ящик пустой.

empty

Breakdown of Нижний ящик пустой.

• нижний: bottom
• ящик: the drawer

Questions & Answers about Нижний ящик пустой.

What is the gender and case of ящик, and how do its adjectives agree with it?

Ящик ends in a consonant, so it is a masculine noun. It is the subject of the sentence and therefore in the nominative case (singular). Both adjectives — нижний and пустой — agree with ящик in gender (masculine), number (singular) and case (nominative), hence the endings -ий on нижний and -ой on пустой.

Why isn’t there a verb like есть (to be) or is in this sentence?

In Russian, the present-tense form of the verb быть (to be) is normally omitted. The full idea “The bottom drawer is empty” is conveyed simply as Нижний ящик пустой, with the copula есть understood but unspoken.

How can I tell if this means “a bottom drawer” or “the bottom drawer” without articles?

Russian does not use articles like a or the. Whether you interpret Нижний ящик пустой as “a bottom drawer is empty” or “the bottom drawer is empty” depends entirely on context (what you already know or have mentioned).

Where is the stress in Нижний ящик пустой, and how do you pronounce it?

Stress falls on the first syllable of нижний (НИжний), the first of ящик (Ящик), and the second of пустой (пустОй). A basic phonetic rendering is [ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈjaɕɪk pʊˈstoj].