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Questions & Answers about Здесь слишком близко к дороге.
What part of speech is Здесь here, and does it ever decline?
Здесь is an adverb of place meaning “here.” It’s indeclinable (it doesn’t change form) and simply indicates the location to which the rest of the sentence refers.
Why is близко an adverb instead of the adjective близкий, and what does it modify?
Близко is the short-form adverb corresponding to the adjective близкий. It answers “how?” or “how near?” and modifies the implicit verb “to be” in this impersonal construction, describing the degree of proximity to the road.
What is the role of слишком, and why does it precede близко?
Слишком is an adverb meaning “too” or “excessively.” In Russian, an adverb of degree typically precedes the word it modifies, so слишком comes before близко to intensify it: “too close.”
Why is дорога in the dative case after к, as in к дороге?
The preposition к always takes the dative case. Here к дороге means “towards the road” or “by the road,” expressing proximity or direction. That’s why дорога becomes дороге.
Could you use у дороги instead of к дороге, and what's the nuance?
Yes. У дороги uses the preposition у with the genitive case to indicate static location (“right next to the road”). К дороге (dative) often emphasizes approach or general proximity. In many contexts they overlap, but у дороги is strictly “by the roadside,” while к дороге can imply “up to the road” or “near the road.”
Why is there no explicit subject in Здесь слишком близко к дороге?
This sentence is impersonal. Russian often omits a subject when the construction describes a general state or condition (here, “it is too close”). The adverbial phrase functions as the predicate without needing a subject.
Can the word order change? For example, could you say Слишком близко здесь к дороге?
Absolutely. Russian word order is flexible and used for emphasis. Слишком близко здесь к дороге or К дороге здесь слишком близко are both correct. Moving здесь or к дороге shifts the focus (on degree, location, or relation) but doesn’t alter the basic meaning.
How would you say the opposite, that something is far from the road?
You’d replace близко with далеко (“far”) and use от with the genitive for “from.” For example:
Здесь слишком далеко от дороги.
This means “Here it’s too far from the road.”