Обе сестры купили торт.

Both sisters bought a cake.

Breakdown of Обе сестры купили торт.

• торт: the cake
• купить: to buy
• сестра: the sister
• обе: both

Questions & Answers about Обе сестры купили торт.

What does Обе mean and why is it used here?

Обе means both. Russian distinguishes gender for this word: оба is used with masculine or neuter nouns, while обе is used with feminine nouns. Since сёстры (sisters) is feminine plural, we use обе to agree in gender and number.

Why Обе, not Оба?

Оба is the masculine/neuter form (e.g. оба брата – both brothers, оба окна – both windows). For feminine nouns like сёстры, you must use обе (e.g. обе сестры – both sisters).

What case is сестры, and why is it in the nominative plural?

Сёстры here is in the nominative plural because it’s the grammatical subject of the sentence. In Russian, subjects appear in the nominative case. The singular сестра́ becomes сёстры́ in the nominative plural.

Why is the verb купили in the past tense plural? Why isn’t it купила?