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Questions & Answers about Моя книга лежит в шкафу.
Why is the possessive pronoun моя used before книга and how do I choose the right form of мой?
In Russian, possessive pronouns agree with the noun in gender, number and case. Here книга is feminine, singular and in the nominative case (it’s the subject). The nominative-feminine form of мой is моя, so you say моя книга. Other forms include мой (masculine nominative), моё (neuter nominative) and мои (plural).
Why is there no article like “the” or “a” in this sentence?
Russian has no definite or indefinite articles. You simply say книга for “(a/the) book.” Context, word order or demonstratives (e.g. эта книга – “this book”) clarify whether it’s definite or indefinite.
What does лежит mean, and why is this verb used here?
Лежит is the 3rd-person singular present form of лежать (“to lie,” in the sense of resting in a horizontal position). It describes a static location. If you wanted the action “to put (the book) down,” you’d use положить or класть, but here you’re simply stating where the book is.
What case is в шкафу, and why is the ending -у used instead of -е?
With the preposition в you use the prepositional case to indicate location (“in”). The regular prepositional ending is -е (шкаф → в шкафе), but after certain consonants (г, к, х) Russian allows an alternative ending -у—sometimes called the second locative. Both в шкафе and в шкафу are correct, though в шкафу is very common in speech.
How would the meaning change if I used the accusative case (в шкаф) instead of the prepositional?
The accusative with в indicates direction (“into the wardrobe”). Saying Моя книга лежит в шкаф would be ungrammatical, since лежит describes location, not movement. To use the accusative correctly you’d need a motion verb: Я положил книгу в шкаф (“I put the book into the wardrobe”).
Could I change the word order and say Книга моя лежит в шкафу? Is it still correct?
Yes. Russian word order is flexible. Книга моя simply shifts emphasis onto книга (perhaps contrasting it with something else). The neutral order is Моя книга лежит в шкафу, but both are grammatical.
Can I drop лежит and just say Моя книга в шкафу?
In casual or telegraphic speech you can omit the verb and say Моя книга в шкафу, and people will understand “my book’s in the wardrobe.” In formal or written contexts it’s better to include лежит to fully express the state.