Я отправляю посылку другу.

the friend

Breakdown of Я отправляю посылку другу.

• я: I
• посылка: the parcel
• отправлять: to send

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?