Breakdown of Я кладу новое мыло на полку рядом с раковиной.
я
I
с
with
новый
new
рядом
next to
на
on
раковина
the sink
полка
the shelf
класть
to put
мыло
the soap
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Questions & Answers about Я кладу новое мыло на полку рядом с раковиной.
Why is кладу used here instead of положу? What does that tell me about aspect?
кладу is the present‐tense, imperfective aspect of класть, showing an ongoing or habitual action (“I am putting”). положу is the future, perfective aspect of положить, showing a single completed action (“I will put”). Since the sentence describes what the speaker is doing right now, the imperfective кладу is appropriate.
Why is it новое мыло, not новый мыло, and why don’t the adjective or noun change in the accusative case?
мыло is a neuter noun, so its adjective takes the neuter ending -ое, yielding новое. Because мыло is inanimate and neuter, its accusative form is identical to the nominative. Thus both мыло and новое remain unchanged when used as a direct object.
Why does на take the accusative case in на полку, and what is the difference between на полку and на полке?
When на expresses motion onto something, it requires the accusative case (на полку = “onto the shelf”). When it expresses static location, it takes the prepositional case (на полке = “on the shelf”). Here you are placing soap onto the shelf (motion), so полка becomes accusative полку.
Why is it рядом с раковиной, and why do we use с plus the instrumental here?
The phrase рядом с (“next to”/“adjacent to”) is a fixed construction that always uses с + instrumental to indicate proximity. Therefore раковина changes to instrumental раковиной, giving рядом с раковиной.
Can I drop Я in Я кладу новое мыло…?
Yes. Russian is a pro‐drop language. The verb ending -у in кладу clearly marks the first person singular, so you can simply say Кладу новое мыло на полку рядом с раковиной, and it remains natural.
How is мыло stressed and pronounced?
мыло has two syllables with stress on the first: MY-lo. In IPA notation it’s [ˈmɨ.lə].
Could I say на полке у раковины instead of рядом с раковиной?
Yes. у раковины uses у + genitive (раковины) to mean “by the sink.” You could say (Я кладу) новое мыло на полку у раковины to mean “I put new soap onto the shelf by the sink.” Keep на полку (accusative) if you want to retain the sense of motion.
What is the difference between рядом с and около?
Both express proximity, but рядом с implies direct adjacency (“right next to”), while около (takes genitive) can mean “near” or “around” in a more general sense, sometimes with a bit more distance or approximation.
Can I rearrange the word order, for example На полку кладу новое мыло рядом с раковиной?
Yes. Russian word order is relatively free. Placing на полку at the beginning emphasizes the destination (“Onto the shelf…”), without changing the core meaning.
What is the infinitive form of кладу, and how do I say “to put”?
The infinitive is класть (“to put,” imperfective). Its perfective counterpart is положить, so you have класть/кладу (imperfective) vs. положить/положу (perfective).