Я жду курьера у входа в офис.

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Breakdown of Я жду курьера у входа в офис.

• в: to
• у: at
• вход: the entrance

Questions & Answers about Я жду курьера у входа в офис.

Why is it Я жду and not something like “I am waiting” with a special progressive form?

Russian doesn’t have a separate progressive tense. The present tense of an imperfective verb covers both simple and progressive meanings. So Я жду can mean “I wait” or “I am waiting,” and context decides which is intended. Here it naturally means “I am waiting.”

Why is it курьера and not курьер after жду?

Because ждать governs a direct object and uses either the genitive or the accusative. For animate masculine nouns like курьер, the accusative singular form looks the same as the genitive singular: курьера. Saying жду курьер is ungrammatical.

Does ждать take genitive or accusative? Is there a difference?

Both are possible with ждать:

• Historically, the genitive was standard: ждать курьера/поезда.
• In modern Russian, the accusative is also common, especially in speech: ждать поезд.
• Nuance: with inanimate nouns, genitive often sounds a bit more formal or neutral; accusative can feel more colloquial or “specific/definite.” With animate singular nouns, you can’t hear the difference because forms coincide (курьера = both genitive and accusative).

How do I conjugate ждать? Where’s the stress?