Breakdown of На рынке яблоки стоят дёшево.
яблоко
the apple
на
at
рынок
the market
стоить
to cost
дёшево
cheaply
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Questions & Answers about На рынке яблоки стоят дёшево.
What does На рынке mean, and why is it used here?
На is a preposition meaning “at” or “on,” and рынке is the prepositional case of рынок (market). Together, На рынке means “at the market,” indicating the location where the apples cost cheap.
Why is яблоки in the nominative case, and what role does it play?
Яблоки is the subject of the sentence, in the nominative plural form of яблоко (apple). It tells us what “stands” (i.e., “costs”) cheap at the market.
What is the meaning of стоят here? Doesn’t it mean “they stand”?
In this context, стоят is from the verb стоить, which means “to cost.” Although стоять means “to stand,” when you talk about prices you always use стоить → стоят for plural: “they cost.”
Why is дёшево an adverb and not an adjective like дешёвые?
Дёшево is an adverb meaning “inexpensively” or “cheaply,” and with стоить you describe how something costs, so you need an adverb. Дешёвые is an adjective (“cheap”); you could say дешёвые яблоки (“cheap apples”), but then you’d use a different sentence structure.
What’s the correct spelling and pronunciation of дёшево?
The correct stressed form is дёшево with ё, pronounced DYO-she-vuh. In everyday writing people sometimes replace ё with е (дешево), but that can obscure the stress and exact sound.
Could I change the word order, for example, say Яблоки стоят дёшево на рынке?
Yes. Russian word order is flexible. Яблоки стоят дёшево на рынке means the same thing, though putting дёшево earlier or later slightly shifts the emphasis. All these variants are grammatically correct.
Why is there no article like “the” or “a” before яблоки?
Russian does not use definite or indefinite articles. Context tells you whether we mean “apples in general” or “the apples” already mentioned. Here it’s simply “apples.”
What case ending does рынке use, and how do I form it for other masculine nouns?
Рынке is the prepositional singular ending -е added to рынок (with a soft sign dropped). For most masculine inanimate nouns, you add -е (e.g., дом → доме, музей → музее) after adjusting the stem if necessary.