Questions & Answers about Я сканирую страницу учебника на принтере и сохраняю её в файл.
Why is страницу in the accusative case and учебника in the genitive?
In Я сканирую страницу учебника на принтере и сохраняю её в файл, страницу is the direct object of сканирую, so it takes the accusative. Учебника is in the genitive because it shows possession, as in page of the textbook. Genitive is used in Russian to express X of Y.
What’s the difference between the imperfective verb сканирую and perfective forms like отсканирую or просканирую?
Сканирую is the imperfective aspect, describing an ongoing or habitual action (I’m scanning / I scan). For a single, completed action you use a perfective: Я отсканировал страницу учебника (I scanned the page). Просканировать also exists as a perfective and emphasizes scanning something thoroughly (to scan completely).
Why does the sentence use на принтере (on the printer) instead of something like с принтера or на сканере?
На принтере + prepositional indicates using or with a device in Russian. It literally means on the printer. Since many printers have a built-in scanner, people say на принтере even when they scan. С принтера would mean from the printer (for example, when you take printed pages out). You can also say на сканере to emphasize the scanner function.