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Questions & Answers about Мы купили дешёвый телефон.
Why does the verb купили end with -ли, and what tense and aspect is it?
купили is the past‐tense form for “we bought.” The -ли ending marks the 1st person plural in the past tense. The verb купить is perfective, so купили indicates a completed action (we did buy it, and it’s done).
Why is there no preposition before телефон?
The verb купить (“to buy”) takes a direct object in the accusative case, with no preposition. In Russian, many transitive verbs simply use the accusative for their objects.
How can I tell that телефон is in the accusative case?
телефон is a masculine inanimate noun ending in a consonant. In Russian, the accusative of inanimate masculine nouns is identical to the nominative. So телефон stays the same whether it’s the subject or a direct object. Context and word order show that it’s the object of купили here.
Why is the adjective дешёвый ending in -ый?
Adjectives agree with the nouns they modify in gender, number, and case. телефон is masculine, singular, and (here) accusative, so дешёвый takes the masculine singular form -ый (which looks identical in nominative and accusative for inanimate nouns).
Why is the letter ё used in дешёвый, and does it affect pronunciation or stress?
The vowel ё always carries the stress in Russian. Writing дешёвый makes it clear that the stress falls on the second syllable (de-SHYO-vyj). In many texts, people replace ё with е, but this can lead to ambiguity in pronunciation.
Can I drop the subject мы and just say Купили дешёвый телефон?
Yes. Russian is a pro‐drop language: the verb ending already indicates the subject (1st person plural in this case). Купили дешёвый телефон still clearly means “(We) bought a cheap phone,” though including мы adds emphasis on “we.”
Is the word order Мы купили дешёвый телефон fixed, or can I say it differently?
Russian word order is relatively free. You could say Дешёвый телефон мы купили to emphasize дешёвый телефон (“It’s a cheap phone that we bought”). The neutral order is Мы купили дешёвый телефон.
What’s the difference between perfective купили and an imperfective form?
Perfective купить → купили describes a completed purchase. The imperfective counterpart is покупать → past покупали, which would mean “we were buying” or “we used to buy.” Imperfective doesn’t focus on completion.