Путешественник сидит у костра.

The traveler is sitting by the campfire.

Breakdown of Путешественник сидит у костра.

• сидеть: to sit
• у: at
• костёр: the campfire
• путешественник: the traveler

Questions & Answers about Путешественник сидит у костра.

Why is it костра and not костёр in this sentence?

Because of the preposition у.

• The basic noun is костёр (campfire), nominative singular.
• у always requires the genitive case after it.
• The genitive singular of костёр is костра.

So:

• костёр = campfire (subject form, dictionary form)
• у костра = by/at the campfire (literally: at [of] the campfire)

This is the same pattern you will see with many other nouns after у:

• у стола (by the table) ← from стол
• у окна (by the window) ← from окно

What exactly does у mean in у костра, and why does it use the genitive?

у is a preposition that usually means:

• at, by, next to (a physical location)
• at someone’s place (with people: у мамы, у друга)

In сидит у костра, у expresses location: the traveler is at/by the campfire.

у always takes the genitive case, which is why you get костра (genitive) instead of костёр (nominative).

Other examples:

• сидит у окна – sits by the window
• стоит у двери – stands by the door
• я был у друга – I was at (my) friend’s place

What is the form of the verb сидит and what is its infinitive?

сидит comes from the infinitive сидеть (to sit).

Grammar details:

• Verb: сидеть
• Tense: present
• Person: 3rd person
• Number: singular

So сидит means he/she/it sits or is sitting, depending on context.

Conjugation of сидеть in the present tense:

• я сижу – I sit / I am sitting
• ты сидишь – you sit (singular, informal)
• он / она / оно сидит – he / she / it sits
• мы сидим – we sit
• вы сидите – you sit (plural or formal)
• они сидят – they sit

What gender is путешественник? Can it refer to a woman?

Путешественник is grammatically masculine and means traveler.

• As a grammatical form, it is masculine.
• In many contexts, especially traditionally, it implies a male traveler.
• In modern speech, it can sometimes be used generically, but if you want to clearly talk about a woman, you use the feminine form путешественница.

Examples:

• Путешественник сидит у костра. – The (male) traveler is sitting by the campfire.
• Путешественница сидит у костра. – The (female) traveler is sitting by the campfire.

Why doesn’t Russian use anything like a or the here?

Russian has no articles (no direct equivalents of a/an or the), so:

• путешественник can mean a traveler or the traveler
• костёр / костра can mean a campfire or the campfire

Which one is correct in English depends on context, not on a special word in Russian. The information about definiteness is usually understood from what has been said before or the situation.

Why is there no он (he) in the sentence? Can I say Он путешественник or Он сидит у костра instead?

Russian often omits subject pronouns (я, ты, он, она, etc.) because the verb ending shows who is doing the action.

• сидит already tells us it is he/she/it (3rd person singular).
• Adding он is usually only needed for emphasis or contrast.

So:

• Путешественник сидит у костра. – perfectly normal, subject is clear from the noun.
• Он сидит у костра. – He is sitting by the campfire. (no noun, just pronoun)
• Он, путешественник, сидит у костра. – He, the traveler, is sitting by the campfire (very emphatic / stylized).

In your original sentence, adding он before сидит would sound odd, because путешественник is already the subject.

Can I change the word order, like У костра сидит путешественник? Does it change the meaning?

Yes, you can change the word order, and Russian allows quite a bit of flexibility.

• Путешественник сидит у костра.
  Neutral statement: the traveler is sitting by the campfire.

• У костра сидит путешественник.
  Grammatically correct, but now у костра is in a more emphasized position.
  This can sound like you’re focusing on what is at the campfire, almost like:

  • “By the campfire, there is a traveler sitting.”

Often, this word order is used when:

• you first set the scene/location (у костра),
• then introduce who is there (путешественник).

The basic meaning is the same, but the focus and rhythm of the sentence change.

Are there other ways to say “by the campfire” in Russian besides у костра? Any difference in nuance?

Yes, you can also say:

• возле костра – near the campfire
• около костра – near the campfire

In many everyday situations, у костра, возле костра, and около костра can be used almost interchangeably and all take the genitive костра.

Nuances (very subtle):

• у костра – very close to, right by the campfire (most common and neutral).
• возле костра – also quite close; sometimes a bit more “literary” or descriptive.
• около костра – near the campfire, can feel very slightly more “around/near” than “right next to.”

For a learner, treating all three as “near/by” is usually good enough at first.

What about aspect? What is the perfective partner of сидеть, and why is сидит (imperfective) used here?

Сидеть is imperfective. Its common perfective partner is посидеть (to sit for a while).

• сидеть – to sit (ongoing state, process, no focus on completion)
• посидеть – to sit for some time, to have a sitting session (completed, bounded in time)

In Путешественник сидит у костра, we are describing a current, ongoing situation:

• The traveler is (currently) sitting by the campfire.

That is exactly what the imperfective does: it describes process, state, or repeated actions, not a completed one-time event.

A perfective version would look more like:

• Путешественник посидел у костра. – The traveler (has) sat by the campfire (for a while, then stopped).
  This focuses on the completed action, not on the ongoing state you see now.

How do you stress and pronounce the words in this sentence?

With stress marks:

• Путеше́ственник – pu-tye-SHÉS-tven-neek
• сиди́т – see-DEET
• у – “oo”
• костра́ – kas-TRA

Full sentence with stress:

• Путеше́ственник сиди́т у костра́.

Transliteration (one possible system):

• Puteshéstvinnik sidít u kustrá.

Key points:

• е after a consonant is often pronounced “ye” (пе, те → pye, tye).
• Unstressed о (in костра́) is pronounced closer to “a”, so it sounds like kas-TRA, not kos-TRA.