Я собираю мусор в парке.

I collect trash in the park.

Breakdown of Я собираю мусор в парке.

• я: I
• парк: the park
• в: in
• мусор: the trash
• собирать: to collect

Questions & Answers about Я собираю мусор в парке.

Why is the verb собираю used here instead of убираю?

• Собирать means “to collect” or “to gather.” Here it emphasizes the act of picking up separate pieces of trash.
• Убирать means “to clean” or “to remove,” often implying a more general tidying or clearing action. If you said Я убираю мусор в парке, it would still make sense, but it sounds more like you’re doing a broader cleaning job—sweeping paths, raking leaves, etc.

Why is собираю in the present tense and first person singular?

• Russian verbs change endings for person and number.
• Собирать in the present for “I” takes -ю → собира + ю = собираю (“I am collecting”).
• If you wanted “you collect,” you’d say ты собираешь, and “we collect” would be мы собираем.

What’s the difference between imperfective собирать and perfective собрать?

• Imperfective (собирать) describes an ongoing, habitual, or repeated action: Я собираю мусор в парке (I’m collecting garbage (right now) / I collect garbage (regularly)).
• Perfective (собрать) describes a completed action: Я соберу мусор в парке (I will collect the garbage or I’ll finish collecting it).

Why is мусор in the accusative case here?

• Мусор is the direct object of the verb “to collect.”
• It’s a masculine inanimate noun, so its accusative form is identical to its nominative: мусор.

Why is there no article before мусор or парк?

• Russian does not have definite or indefinite articles (no a, the).
• Context and word endings alone tell you whether something is specific or general.

Why do we say в парке and not в парк?

• The preposition в with the prepositional case expresses location (“in”).
• Парк in the prepositional case becomes парке, so в парке = “in the park.”
• В парк (with парк in the accusative) would mean motion into the park: “to the park.”

Could I say на парке instead of в парке?

• No. На + prepositional often means “on” (e.g., на столе = “on the table”).
• Parks are considered enclosed or bounded spaces, so Russian uses в for “in a park,” not на.

Can I change the word order, for example to В парке я собираю мусор?

• Yes. Russian has relatively free word order because cases mark grammatical roles.
• Putting в парке first can emphasize “in the park” but doesn’t change the basic meaning.