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Questions & Answers about Я смотрю на красивый пейзаж.
Why is на used before красивый пейзаж and which case does it take?
The preposition на with the accusative case indicates the target or direction of your gaze in the expression смотреть на …. In English we say “I look at the landscape,” but in Russian you always need на + accusative after смотреть. You cannot drop на here.
Why does красивый remain the same in the accusative masculine singular?
Because пейзаж is an inanimate masculine noun. In Russian, inanimate masculine adjectives (and nouns) have identical forms in the nominative and accusative singular, so красивый stays unchanged.
What gender and number is пейзаж, and how can I recognize it?
Пейзаж is a masculine noun (it ends in a consonant) and it’s used here in the singular. Most Russian masculine nouns end in a consonant in the nominative singular; if it ended in -а or -я, it would likely be feminine.
How do you conjugate смотреть in the present tense?
Смотреть follows the first-conjugation pattern. Present-tense forms are:
• я смотрю
• ты смотришь
• он/она/оно смотрит
• мы смотрим
• вы смотрите
• они смотрят
How do I say I looked at the landscape in Russian?
Use the perfective verb посмотреть in the past tense:
• Male speaker: Я посмотрел на красивый пейзаж.
• Female speaker: Я посмотрела на красивый пейзаж.
Can the pronoun я be omitted here?
Yes. Russian is a pro-drop language, so you can simply say Смотрю на красивый пейзаж. The verb ending -ю still tells you it’s first person singular.
How is пейзаж pronounced and where is the stress?
It’s pronounced [pʲɪjˈzaʂ] (roughly piy-ZAHSH), with the stress on the second syllable.
How would I say I look at beautiful landscapes (plural)?
Я смотрю на красивые пейзажи.
• красивый → красивые (plural inanimate)
• пейзаж → пейзажи (plural)