Breakdown of Учитель объясняет строение вселенной.
учитель
the teacher
объяснять
to explain
вселенная
the universe
строение
the structure
Questions & Answers about Учитель объясняет строение вселенной.
Why is учитель in this form, and what gender is it?
Учитель is masculine and here it is in the nominative singular form, because it is the subject of the sentence – the one doing the action.
- Nominative singular: учитель – teacher
- Genitive singular: учителя – of the teacher
- Nominative plural: учителя́ – teachers
Even though a teacher can be male or female in reality, учитель is grammatically masculine. For a specifically female teacher, Russian also has учительница (feminine).
What tense and aspect is объясняет, and how does that compare to English?
Объясняет is:
- Present tense
- Imperfective aspect
- 3rd person singular (he/she/it)
Imperfective present in Russian usually covers both:
- English simple present: “The teacher explains…”
- English present continuous: “The teacher is explaining…”
So Учитель объясняет строение вселенной can mean either “The teacher explains the structure of the universe (in general)” or “The teacher is explaining the structure of the universe (right now),” depending on context.
What is the verb pair for объясняет and how would I say it in the past or future?