Word
Оба яблока лежат на столе.
Meaning
Both apples are on the table.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
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Questions & Answers about Оба яблока лежат на столе.
What part of speech is оба, and what does it mean?
оба is a numeral pronoun meaning both. It’s used when referring to two items together as a pair, rather than specifying the exact number (like два).
Why is яблока in the genitive singular and not the nominative plural яблоки?
After the numerals 2, 3, 4 and the numeral pronoun оба, Russian uses the genitive singular form of the counted noun. The genitive singular of яблоко is яблока, so you get два яблока, три яблока, оба яблока.
Could we replace оба with два here? If so, what’s the nuance between два яблока and оба яблока?
Yes, you can say два яблока to mean two apples. The nuance is that оба stresses that you mean both of them (the two known apples), whereas два simply states the quantity without implying a pre-established pair.
Why is the verb лежат in the plural form instead of the singular лежит?
The grammatical subject оба яблока is semantically plural (two items). In Russian present-tense agreement, a plural subject takes the third person plural verb form, which for лежать is лежат (он лежит → они лежат).
What case is на столе, and why do we use the prepositional instead of the accusative here?
на столе is the prepositional case used with на to indicate location (“on the table”). If you wanted motion onto the table, you’d use the accusative (на стол). Since the apples are simply resting on the table, you choose the prepositional.
Can we rearrange the words and say На столе лежат оба яблока? Will the meaning change?
Yes. Russian word order is flexible. На столе лежат оба яблока is perfectly correct and means the same thing. Fronting на столе emphasizes the location, while the neutral order Оба яблока лежат на столе emphasizes the fact that both apples are lying there.
Where does the stress fall in each word of Оба яблока лежат на столе?
– О́ба: stress on the first syllable
– я́блока: stress on the first syllable (same as in я́блоко)
– лежа́т: stress on the second syllable
– столе́: stress shifts to the ending in the prepositional case (nominative is сто́л)