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Questions & Answers about Я отправляю посылку другу.
What is the aspect and tense of отправляю, and why is it used here?
Отправляю is the 1st person singular present‐tense form of the imperfective verb отправлять. Imperfective verbs describe ongoing, habitual actions or near‐future plans. Here Я отправляю посылку другу can mean “I am sending a package to a friend” or even “I will be sending a package to a friend (soon).” If you want to express a simple future action (“I will send”), you switch to the perfective: Я отправлю посылку другу.
Why does посылка become посылку in this sentence?
Because посылка (a feminine noun ending in -а) is the direct object of the verb and thus takes the accusative case. For singular feminine nouns ending in -а, the accusative ending is -у, so посылка → посылку.
Why isn’t there any preposition before другу to indicate “to a friend”?
In Russian, the dative case itself (here другу) shows the indirect object or the recipient of something. You don’t need a preposition like “to.” The ending -у on друг signals “to (a) friend.”
What case is другу, and how do I know?
Другу is the dative singular of друг. You can test it by asking the question «Кому?» (to whom?). The answer «другу» tells you it’s in the dative case.
Can I change the word order? For example, say Я отправляю другу посылку instead?
Yes. Russian word order is fairly flexible. Both Я отправляю посылку другу and Я отправляю другу посылку mean the same thing. Moving другу forward might give it slight emphasis (“It’s to the friend that I’m sending the package”).
If I want to say “to my friend,” do I need to add a possessive?
Yes. If you want “my friend,” use the dative of мой plus друг: моему другу. So Я отправляю посылку моему другу means “I’m sending the package to my friend.” Without моему, другу can be understood simply as “(to) a friend.”
Could Я отправляю посылку другу ever mean “I will send a package to a friend” (in the future)?
Yes. With imperfective verbs in the present tense, Russian often expresses near‐future actions. Context or a time adverb clarifies: Завтра я отправляю посылку другу can be translated “Tomorrow I will send the package to (my) friend.”
How do I form the questions to identify the cases here?
For the direct object посылку, ask «Кого? Что?» (whom? what?): Что я отправляю? – посылку.
For the indirect object другу, ask «Кому? Чему?» (to whom? to what?): Кому я отправляю посылку? – другу.
Where is the stress in отправляю, and how do I pronounce it?
The stress is on the я́ in the third syllable: [at-pruhv-LYA-yu]. So you say отправля́ю, with a clear stress on -ля́-.