Breakdown of Моя покупка оказалась полезной.
мой
my
полезный
useful
покупка
the purchase
оказаться
to turn out to be
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Questions & Answers about Моя покупка оказалась полезной.
Why is моя покупка in the nominative case (and not accusative)?
Because in this sentence “моя покупка” is the subject—the thing that “turned out.” In Russian, the subject of an intransitive verb is in the nominative case. Here оказаться (“to turn out”) is intransitive, so моя покупка remains nominative.
What does the suffix -ся in оказалась do?
The -ся (often written -сь after a vowel) is the reflexive/middle-voice marker. With оказаться it doesn’t mean “do something to yourself” but rather forms an intransitive verb meaning “to turn out” or “to prove to be.” The base verb оказать means “to render” or “to show,” while оказаться has the special meaning “to turn out.”
Why is the verb оказалась feminine?
The past tense form of Russian verbs agrees in gender and number with the subject. Since покупка is a feminine noun, the past tense of оказаться takes the feminine ending -лась, giving оказалась. (For reference: masculine оказался, neuter оказалось, plural оказались.)
What case is полезной, and how do you know?
Полезной is the feminine singular instrumental case of the adjective полезный (“useful”). You can spot the instrumental by the ending -ой on a feminine adjective.
Why does оказаться take an instrumental complement (оказалась полезной) instead of a nominative one (полезная)?
In Russian, many verbs that express becoming, turning out, or being (like оказаться, становиться, являться) require their predicate complement to be in the instrumental case. This instrumental marks the resulting state: “turned out to be useful.”
Could you use the short-form adjective полезна instead of полезной?
Yes. It’s also correct to say “Моя покупка оказалась полезна.” Short-form adjectives are often used in predicative positions and sound a bit more colloquial or immediate. Using the long form + instrumental (полезной) is slightly more formal or neutral.
How do you pronounce оказалась, and where is the stress?
The stress falls on the third syllable: о-ка-за́-лась. In phonetic transcription: [ɐkɐˈzalʲsə].
Can you replace моя покупка with other words like эта покупка or just покупка?
Absolutely. You could say “Покупка оказалась полезной” or “Эта покупка оказалась полезной.” Using моя, эта, or omitting any determiner just shifts the nuance of ownership or emphasis, but the grammar stays the same.