Готовый отчёт лежит на столе.

The completed report is lying on the table.

Breakdown of Готовый отчёт лежит на столе.

• стол: the table
• на: on
• лежать: to lie
• отчёт: the report
• готовый: ready

Questions & Answers about Готовый отчёт лежит на столе.

What exactly does готовый mean here? Is it ready or finished?

In this sentence готовый means that the report has already been prepared and is ready for use.

You can translate it as either ready or finished / completed.
For documents like reports, готовый отчёт usually implies:

• all the work on it is done
• it is ready to be submitted / read / used

It does not mean willing (as in ready to do something) here; it is about the state of the report itself.

Why is it готовый отчёт, not отчёт готов? What is the difference?

These are two different structures:

• готовый отчёт – an adjective in its long form modifying a noun

  • literally: a ready/finished report
  • used before a noun, like an ordinary adjective: красивый дом, новая книга, готовый отчёт

• отчёт готов – a short-form adjective used as a predicate

  • literally: the report is ready
  • structure is like Noun + is + adjective: отчёт готов, дом красив, книга прочитана

Your sentence:

• Готовый отчёт лежит на столе. – The finished report is lying on the table.

A common alternative with the short form would be:

• Отчёт готов. Он лежит на столе. – The report is ready. It is lying on the table.

So:

• готовый отчёт tells us what kind of report it is
• отчёт готов tells us what state the report is in, as a full sentence

What gender, number, and case are готовый and отчёт here, and why?

Both готовый and отчёт are:

• masculine
• singular
• nominative case

Explanation:

• отчёт is a masculine noun (ends in a consonant: -т)
• In the dictionary you find it as отчёт – nominative singular
• готовый agrees with отчёт in gender, number, and case, so it also takes the masculine, singular, nominative ending -ый

Because they are in the nominative case and agree with each other, they form the subject of the sentence: готовый отчёт.

How can I tell that готовый отчёт is the subject of the sentence?

In Russian, the subject is usually:

• in the nominative case
• the phrase that agrees with the verb in number (and sometimes gender)

Here:

• готовый отчёт – nominative singular, masculine
• лежит – 3rd person singular verb form
• на столе – a prepositional phrase showing location, not nominative, so it cannot be the subject

So the subject is готовый отчёт, and лежит is what the subject is doing (or how it is positioned).

What is the infinitive and aspect of лежит, and what tense is it?

• Infinitive: лежать
• Aspect: imperfective
• Form: лежит – 3rd person singular, present tense

лежать is used for a state / position that is ongoing (lying, being in a lying position).

If you wanted a single completed action of coming to lie down (onto something), you would switch to the perfective verb лечь, e.g.:

• Отчёт лёг на стол. – The report ended up on the table / was placed on the table. (focus on the completed action)

In your sentence, the focus is on the current state:

• лежит на столе – is lying on the table (right now)

Why does Russian use лежит instead of simply saying is on the table, like in English?

Russian often uses verbs of position where English just uses to be:

• лежать – to lie (horizontally)
• стоять – to stand (vertically)
• сидеть – to sit
• висеть – to hang

For objects on a flat surface like a table, the natural verb is лежать:

• Книга лежит на столе. – The book is on the table.
• Готовый отчёт лежит на столе. – The finished report is on the table.

Russian speakers like to specify how something is situated, not just that it is there.

You could, in principle, say:

• Отчёт на столе. – The report is on the table. (no verb; very short, note-like style)

But есть (the existential to be) is not used here:
✗ Отчёт есть на столе sounds unnatural in this context.

Is лежит a transitive verb? Can it take a direct object?

No. лежать (and its form лежит) is intransitive.

• It does not take a direct object.

• Its typical pattern is subject + лежать + location phrase:

  • Книга лежит на столе.
  • Собака лежит на полу.
  • Готовый отчёт лежит на столе.

The location is usually expressed with a preposition like на, в, под, над plus the appropriate case.

What does на столе literally mean, and what case is столе?

на столе literally means on the table.

• на – preposition on (also onto, depending on case)
• столе – prepositional case, singular, of стол (table)

With на and the question где? (where?), Russian uses the prepositional case:

• где? на столе – where? on the table
• где? в комнате – where? in the room
• где? в шкафу – where? in the cupboard

So столе is the prepositional singular form of стол used for location.

How is на столе different from на стол?

The difference is location vs direction:

1. на столе – where? (static location)

   • case: prepositional
   • question: где? – where?
   • example: Отчёт лежит на столе. – The report is on the table.

2. на стол – onto what? (movement towards)

   • case: accusative
   • question: куда? – where to?
   • example: Положи отчёт на стол. – Put the report on the table.

So:

• на столе = on the table (already there, static)
• на стол = onto the table (movement to that place)

What is the full declension of стол so I can see where столе comes from?

стол (table), masculine, singular:

• Nominative (кто? что?): стол – the table (subject form)
• Genitive (кого? чего?): стола – of the table
• Dative (кому? чему?): столу – to the table
• Accusative (кого? что?): стол – the table (object, same as nominative for inanimate)
• Instrumental (кем? чем?): столом – with/by the table
• Prepositional (о ком? о чём? / где?): столе – about the table / on the table

Your phrase на столе uses the prepositional form столе to express location.

I sometimes see на столу instead of на столе. Is that correct?

На столу is:

• archaic / dialectal / poetic in modern Russian

In standard contemporary Russian, you should use:

• на столе

You will still encounter на столу in older literature or certain dialects, but as a learner you should consistently say and write на столе.

Can I change the word order, for example: На столе лежит готовый отчёт? Does the meaning change?

Yes, you can change the word order. The basic meaning stays the same, but the emphasis shifts.

Common variants:

1. Готовый отчёт лежит на столе.
   – Neutral statement, subject-first. Mild focus on what lies on the table.

2. На столе лежит готовый отчёт.
   – Emphasis starts with the location: On the table, there is a finished report.

3. На столе готовый отчёт лежит.
   – Possible, but a bit more marked / stylistic; can sound poetic or expressive.

In all these, готовый отчёт is still the subject, лежит is the verb, and на столе is the location. Word order in Russian is flexible; case endings keep the roles clear.

How would I say The finished reports are on the table (plural)?

You need to put the adjective, noun, and verb into the plural:

• Готовые отчёты лежат на столе.

Changes:

• готовый → готовые (masculine plural nominative adjective)
• отчёт → отчёты (plural noun)
• лежит → лежат (3rd person plural present)

So:

• singular: Готовый отчёт лежит на столе.
• plural: Готовые отчёты лежат на столе.

Where is the stress in готовый and отчёт, and how are they pronounced?

Stress:

• готОвый – stress on the second syllable
• отчёт – stress on ё (which is always stressed)

Approximate pronunciation (IPA):

• готОвый – [ɡɐˈtovɨj]
• отчёт – [ɐtˈtɕɵt]

Key points:

• In готовый, the stressed vowel is о, not the last ы.
• In отчёт, the ё is pronounced like yo in yo-yo and is always stressed.