Я случайно проглотил горькую таблетку.

I accidentally swallowed a bitter pill.

Breakdown of Я случайно проглотил горькую таблетку.

• я: I
• случайно: accidentally
• таблетка: the pill
• горький: bitter
• проглотить: to swallow

Questions & Answers about Я случайно проглотил горькую таблетку.

What form of the verb is проглотил, and how would the sentence change if the speaker were female or if there were several people?

Проглотил is the masculine singular past tense, perfective form of проглотить (to swallow down).

Russian past tense agrees with the gender and number of the subject:

• Masculine singular: я случайно проглотил горькую таблетку (man speaking)
• Feminine singular: я случайно проглотила горькую таблетку (woman speaking)
• Neuter singular (for neuter subjects): лекарство случайно проглотило таблетку (artificial example)
• Plural (any gender mix):
  
  • мы случайно проглотили горькую таблетку – we accidentally swallowed a bitter pill
  • они случайно проглотили горькую таблетку – they accidentally swallowed a bitter pill

Why is it таблетку and not таблетка?

Таблетка is the nominative form (dictionary form), used for the subject of the sentence.
Here, таблетку is the direct object of the verb проглотил, so it must be in the accusative case.

For feminine nouns ending in -а in the nominative, the accusative singular usually changes -а → -у:

• Nominative (subject): Таблетка горькая. – The pill is bitter.
• Accusative (object): Я проглотил таблетку. – I swallowed a pill.

So таблетка → таблетку because it is what was swallowed.

Why is the adjective горькую in that form, and how does it agree with таблетку?

In Russian, adjectives must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

• Таблетку is feminine, singular, accusative.
• The base adjective is горький (bitter).

Feminine singular forms of this adjective:

• Nominative: горькая таблетка – a bitter pill (subject)
• Accusative: горькую таблетку – a bitter pill (object)

So горькую is the feminine accusative form of горький, matching таблетку (also feminine accusative).

How can I express the difference between “a bitter pill” and “the bitter pill” in Russian, since there are no articles?

Russian has no articles like a/an or the, so горькая / горькую таблетка can mean either “a bitter pill” or “the bitter pill”, depending on context.

To make the reference more specific, Russians use other words:

• эта горькая таблетка – this bitter pill
• та горькая таблетка – that bitter pill
• та самая горькая таблетка – that very same bitter pill

But without such words, горькую таблетку is simply “bitter pill” and can be understood as a or the from context.

Where can случайно go in the sentence? Are other word orders possible, and how do they sound?

Russian word order is fairly flexible, especially with adverbs like случайно.

All of these are grammatical, but with slightly different emphasis:

• Я случайно проглотил горькую таблетку.
  Neutral; straightforward “I accidentally swallowed a bitter pill.”

• Я проглотил горькую таблетку случайно.
  Puts a bit more emphasis on the “by accident” part, often sounding like a clarification.

• Случайно я проглотил горькую таблетку.
  Starts with случайно, so the accidental nature is strongly highlighted:
  “By accident, I swallowed a bitter pill.”

• Горькую таблетку я случайно проглотил.
  Emphasizes горькую таблетку (that bitter pill is what got swallowed by mistake).

The basic meaning is the same in all cases; word order mostly changes what is highlighted.

Can I drop я and just say Случайно проглотил горькую таблетку?

Yes, you can. In Russian, subject pronouns are often omitted when they are clear from context.

• Случайно проглотил горькую таблетку.
  In conversation, this will usually be understood as “I accidentally swallowed a bitter pill” if you are talking about yourself.

However, note:

• Проглотил only shows gender and number (masculine singular), not person.
  Without я / он / она, it could also mean “he accidentally swallowed…” in the right context.
• When you first introduce the event, or in more formal writing, it’s safer and clearer to keep я.

What exactly does случайно mean, and how is it different from нечаянно, ненарочно, or по ошибке?

Случайно literally means “by chance”, “accidentally”. It’s neutral and very common.

Comparisons:

• нечаянно – unintentionally, without meaning to; close to случайно, slightly more emotional/colloquial.
  Я нечаянно проглотил горькую таблетку.

• ненарочно – not on purpose; focuses on lack of intention.
  Я ненарочно проглотил горькую таблетку.

• по ошибке – “by mistake”, stresses that you made an error, maybe confusing things.
  Я по ошибке проглотил горькую таблетку.

All can describe an accident, but:

• случайно = by chance
• по ошибке = because of a mistake
• нечаянно / ненарочно = not on purpose

What aspect is проглотил, and what would the imperfective version be? How would the meaning change?

Проглотил is perfective past. Perfective aspect presents an action as a single, completed event with a result.

The main imperfective partners in real usage are:

• проглатывать → past: проглатывал
• глотать → past: глотал

Comparison:

• Я случайно проглотил горькую таблетку.
  One complete event: I accidentally swallowed (finished swallowing) a bitter pill.

• Я случайно глотал горькую таблетку. / Я случайно проглатывал горькую таблетку.
  Sounds odd in isolation; suggests ongoing or repeated swallowing, not one completed mistake.

In this context, when you describe one accidental swallowing that is already finished, Russian almost always uses the perfective: проглотил.

Is there any difference between saying проглотил таблетку, принял таблетку, or выпил таблетку?

Yes, these are related but not identical in nuance:

• проглотил таблетку – literally “swallowed a pill”.
  Focus on the physical act of swallowing.

• принял таблетку – “took a pill/medicine” in a more medical/formal sense.
  Used about following doctor’s orders: принять таблетку от головной боли – take a pill for a headache.

• выпил таблетку – literally “drank a pill”, but very common colloquially.
  Means you took/swallowed the pill (usually with water).

For an accidental, physical act like in your sentence, проглотил таблетку is the most natural.

Can the adjective come after the noun, like таблетку горькую?

It can, but that word order is marked and carries special emphasis or stylistic coloring.

• Normal, neutral: горькую таблетку
• Marked / emphatic / sometimes poetic: таблетку горькую

For example:
Он проглотил таблетку, горькую и противную. – “He swallowed the pill, bitter and nasty.”

So yes, таблетку горькую is possible, but in everyday neutral speech you usually put adjectives before the noun.

How is the whole sentence pronounced, and where is the stress?

Stressed vowels (with accents):

Я случа́йно проглоти́л го́рькую табле́тку.

Approximate pronunciation (stressed syllables in capitals):

ya slu-CHAI-na prog-la-TIL GORʹ-ku-yu tab-LET-ku

Notes:

• ч in случайно sounds like English “ch”.
• ль in табле́тку is a soft “l”.
• ю in горькую is like “yu” in “you”.

Is there a short-form adjective related to горькую, and when would I use something like горька?

Yes. The short-form adjectives from горький are:

• Masculine: горек
• Feminine: горька
• Neuter: горько
• Plural: горьки

Short forms are mainly used predicatively, after the noun or with “to be”:

• Таблетка горькая. – The pill is bitter. (full form, very common)
• Таблетка горька. – The pill is bitter. (short form, more literary / stylistic)

You do not use the short form attributively before a noun, so you wouldn’t say горька таблетка.
In your sentence, because горькую is directly modifying таблетку as an object, you must use the full form: горькую таблетку.