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Questions & Answers about После дождя идёт град.
Why is дождя in the genitive case?
The preposition после always requires the genitive case. So дождь becomes дождя.
Why is there no word for "the" or "a" before дождя or град?
Russian has no articles like "the" or "a." Definiteness or indefiniteness is understood from context, not marked by a separate word.
What gender and case is град, and why?
Град is a masculine noun (it ends in a consonant). Here it’s in the nominative case because it functions as the subject of the verb идёт.
Why is град in the nominative case after идёт, rather than accusative or another case?
This is an impersonal weather construction: the phenomenon (here град) behaves like the subject. Weather verbs (идти, падать, etc.) take the noun in the nominative, not as a direct object.
Why is идёт used to describe hail? Could we use падает instead?
In Russian, precipitation verbs often use идти (e.g., идёт дождь, идёт снег, идёт град) to mean "it is …ing." You can also say град падает, but идёт град is the standard weather expression.
What’s the difference between идёт град and пойдёт град?
Идёт град is present tense (it is hailing now or as a general pattern). Пойдёт град uses the perfective verb пойти in the future (it will start to hail).
Can I change the word order, for example Град идёт после дождя? Does it change the meaning?
Yes, you can say Град идёт после дождя, but placing после дождя at the beginning emphasizes the time ("After the rain, hail comes"). Russian word order is flexible and used for emphasis.
Does this sentence describe a single event or a general rule?
Context decides. После дождя идёт град can describe a specific instance ("Today, after the rain, hail came") or a habitual pattern ("Whenever it rains here, hail follows").
How would you translate После дождя идёт град most naturally into English?
A natural translation is After the rain, hail comes or It hails after rain. In English you might also say It hails after it rains.