На этом острове красивая природа и чистый океан.

On this island there is beautiful nature and a clean ocean.

Breakdown of На этом острове красивая природа и чистый океан.

• красивый: beautiful
• и: and
• на: on
• этот: this
• чистый: clean
• остров: the island
• океан: the ocean
• природа: the nature

Questions & Answers about На этом острове красивая природа и чистый океан.

Why is it на этом острове and not в этом острове?

Russian makes a distinction in prepositions that doesn’t match English exactly.

• на (+ prepositional) is used with many places that are seen as surfaces, territories, or open areas:

  • на острове – on an island
  • на пляже – on the beach
  • на улице – in the street / outside
  • на даче – at the dacha (country house)

• в (+ prepositional) is more like “inside / within an enclosed space”:

  • в доме – in the house
  • в городе – in the city
  • в комнате – in the room

With остров (island), Russian always uses на острове, never в острове, just like you’d say “on an island” in English, not “in an island.” It’s an idiomatic pattern you just have to memorize: на острове, на Кубе, на Бали, etc.

Why is it этом острове and not этот остров?

Этот is the basic (nominative) form:

• этот остров – this island (as the subject or object in its base form).

After the preposition на meaning “on (a place)” we must use the prepositional case:

• Masculine noun остров → prepositional острове
• Demonstrative этот → prepositional этом

So:

• этот остров – this island (nominative)
• на этом острове – on this island (prepositional)

Both the adjective-like word этот and the noun остров have to change to the same case and agree in gender/number/case.

Why is there no word for “is” or “there is” in the Russian sentence?

In Russian, in the present tense, the verb быть (to be) is usually omitted in simple sentences like this.

English:

• “On this island there is beautiful nature and a clean ocean.”

Russian:

• На этом острове красивая природа и чистый океан.
  (Literally: “On this island beautiful nature and clean ocean.”)

You could theoretically insert есть (“there is/are”) here:

• На этом острове есть красивая природа и чистый океан.

This is grammatically correct, but it slightly changes the feel. Есть emphasizes existence (“there exists…”).
Without есть, it feels more like a neutral description of characteristics (“the island has…”), which is the most natural here.

So in the present tense, Russian often just drops “is/are/there is/are” when describing what something is or what it has.

Why is it красивая природа but чистый океан? Why do the adjectives change?

Adjectives in Russian must agree with the noun in:

• gender (masculine / feminine / neuter)
• number (singular / plural)
• case

The nouns here:

• природа – feminine, singular, nominative
• океан – masculine, singular, nominative

So we need:

• feminine singular nominative adjective → красивая (beautiful)
  красивая природа

• masculine singular nominative adjective → чистый (clean)
  чистый океан

If you changed the nouns, the adjectives would change too, for example:

• чистая вода – clean water (вода – feminine)
• красивый остров – beautiful island (остров – masculine)
• красивое море – beautiful sea (море – neuter)

Why do the adjectives come before the nouns (красивая природа, чистый океан)? Can they come after?

The neutral, default order in Russian is adjective + noun, like in English:

• красивая природа – beautiful nature
• чистый океан – clean ocean

Adjectives can come after the noun, but this is usually:

• poetic / literary, or
• used for emphasis or a special stylistic effect.

For example, something poetic might be:

• природа красивая и океан чистый
  (nature is beautiful and the ocean is clean)

This sounds more “literary” and less neutral. In everyday speech and standard writing, adjective + noun is what you should use.

Why is the word for “nature” (природа) singular in Russian, even though “nature” in English is uncountable?

In Russian, природа is a regular countable noun grammatically, even though its meaning is like the uncountable English “nature.”

• It’s typically used in the singular:
  • красивая природа – beautiful nature
  • люблю природу – I love nature

Plural природы exists but has a limited use (“kinds of nature,” “natural environments” in some scientific or poetic contexts).

So the Russian sentence uses красивая природа (singular), which is the normal, idiomatic way to say “beautiful nature,” even though in English you can’t say “a nature” or “natures” in the same way.

Why does the sentence start with На этом острове? Could I put it at the end?

Word order in Russian is more flexible than in English. The version you have:

• На этом острове красивая природа и чистый океан.

This word order puts На этом острове (“on this island”) at the start, which often sets the context or topic of the sentence: As for this island…

You could also say:

• Красивая природа и чистый океан на этом острове.

This is grammatically correct. It can sound like you’re contrasting this island with some other place:
“It is on this island that there is beautiful nature and a clean ocean (as opposed to elsewhere).”

In practice:

• Starting with На этом острове is very neutral and common.
• Moving it to the end adds emphasis to на этом острове, often implying comparison or contrast.

Why is на этом острове in the prepositional case, but красивая природа and чистый океан are in the nominative case?

Each part of the sentence uses the case required by its function and preposition.

1. На этом острове

   • Preposition на (in the sense “on / at a place”) requires the prepositional case.
   • So: остров → острове, этот → этом.

2. красивая природа и чистый океан

   • This is the main part of the sentence, matching the (zero) verb “to be” in the present tense.
   • In Russian, what corresponds to “X is Y” uses nominative on both sides.
   • So природа and океан, along with their adjectives, stay in nominative:
     красивая природа, чистый океан.

So you get:

• На этом острове (prepositional, phrase of place)
• красивая природа и чистый океан (nominative, things that are there / being described).

How would I say “On these islands there is beautiful nature and a clean ocean”?

You need the plural of “this island” in the prepositional case:

• Singular: этот остров → на этом острове
• Plural: эти острова → на этих островах

So the full sentence:

• На этих островах красивая природа и чистый океан.

Notes:

• острова = islands (nominative plural)
• островах = on islands (prepositional plural)
• эти → этих (plural demonstrative, prepositional)
• природа remains singular; океан remains singular.

Could I just say здесь красивая природа и чистый океан instead of на этом острове? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can say:

• Здесь красивая природа и чистый океан. – “Here there is beautiful nature and a clean ocean.”

Differences:

• на этом острове – Specifies the exact place and sounds more descriptive, like part of a narrative or travel description: On this island…
• здесь – Means simply “here”, relies on the situation or earlier context to know where “here” is. It’s more conversational and deictic (“right here where we are”).

So:

• In a travel brochure or written description: На этом острове… is more natural.
• In a conversation on the island itself: Здесь красивая природа и чистый океан. is very natural.

What is the stress and pronunciation of the words острове, природа, and океан?

Stress (stressed syllable in capitals):

• о́строве – Ó-stro-ve

  • IPA: [ˈostrəvə]
  • Stress on the first syllable: Óst-rove.

• природа́ – pri-ro-DÁ

  • IPA: [prʲɪˈrodə]
  • Stress on the second syllable: pri-RO-da.

• океа́н – o-ke-ÁN

  • IPA: [əkʲɪˈan]
  • Stress on the last syllable: o-ke-AN.

In all three, only one syllable is stressed; the others are reduced or less prominent, especially the unstressed о, which often sounds closer to “uh” [ɐ] or [ə] in normal speech.

Could the sentence mean that both the nature and the ocean are beautiful and clean, or does чистый only describe океан?

As written:

• красивая природа и чистый океан

The default interpretation is:

• красивая describes природа (beautiful nature)
• чистый describes океан (clean ocean)

If you want to clearly say that both are beautiful and clean, you would normally repeat the adjectives or use plurals:

• На этом острове красивая и чистая природа и красивый и чистый океан.
  (On this island, the nature is beautiful and clean, and the ocean is beautiful and clean.)

More compact but still clear with shared adjectives:

• На этом острове красивая, чистая природа и красивый, чистый океан.

Without such repetition, Russian speakers will usually not automatically extend чистый back to природа.