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Questions & Answers about Дети смотрят на фонтан.
What is the case and number of Дети, and why is it used here?
Дети is the nominative plural form of the noun ребёнок, meaning “children.” It’s in the nominative case because it functions as the subject of the sentence (the ones performing the action).
What is the verb смотрят? What is its infinitive, aspect, and why is it conjugated this way?
Смотрят is the third person plural present tense form of the imperfective verb смотреть (“to look” or “to watch”). Being imperfective, it describes an ongoing or habitual action – “they are looking.”
Why is the preposition на used before фонтан, and what case does фонтан take?
With смотреть meaning “to look at,” Russian requires на plus the accusative case. Фонтан is an inanimate masculine noun whose accusative singular form is identical to its nominative singular, so it stays фонтан.
Why is the accusative singular of фонтан the same as its nominative singular?
In Russian, inanimate masculine nouns ending in a consonant do not change in the accusative singular; they remain the same as in the nominative singular.
How do you pronounce смотрят, and where is the stress?
Смотрят is pronounced [smɐˈtrʲæt], with the stress on the last syllable (смотря́т).
How would the meaning change if we used the perfective verb посмотреть?
If you say Дети посмотрят на фонтан, you use the perfective посмотреть, which shifts the meaning to a completed action in the future: “The children will look at the fountain” (emphasizing that the action will be finished).
Why are there no articles like “the” or “a” in the sentence?
Russian does not have articles. Definiteness or indefiniteness is inferred from context. Thus Дети смотрят на фонтан can mean either “Children are looking at a fountain” or “The children are looking at the fountain,” depending on the situation.
Why can’t we say смотрят фонтан without на?
The verb смотреть requires the preposition на to mark its object (“to look at”). Omitting на would be ungrammatical.
What’s the difference between смотреть на фонтан and быть у фонтана?
Смотреть на фонтан means “to look at the fountain” (action of gazing). Быть у фонтана means “to be by the fountain” (location next to it). The preposition у indicates proximity rather than direction of gaze.