Breakdown of Я смотрю на запотевшее зеркало в ванной.
Questions & Answers about Я смотрю на запотевшее зеркало в ванной.
In Russian, the verb смотреть works in two main patterns:
смотреть на + accusative = to look at something
- Я смотрю на запотевшее зеркало. – I am looking at the fogged-up mirror.
- Он смотрит на небо. – He is looking at the sky.
смотреть + accusative (without preposition) = to watch something (as a show, program, etc.)
- Я смотрю фильм. – I’m watching a movie.
- Мы смотрим телевизор. – We watch TV.
A mirror is not something you “watch” like a movie; you look at it, so Russian needs на here: смотреть на зеркало.
Зеркало is in the accusative case here, because it’s the direct object of смотрю.
However, neuter inanimate nouns in Russian have the same form in the nominative and accusative singular:
- Nominative: зеркало висит на стене. – The mirror hangs on the wall.
- Accusative: я смотрю на зеркало. – I’m looking at the mirror.
So even though зеркало is in the accusative, it looks identical to the nominative.
Adjectives and participles in Russian must agree with the noun in:
- gender
- number
- case
Зеркало is:
- neuter
- singular
- accusative (same form as nominative)
So the describing word must also be neuter singular accusative:
- masculine: запотевший (e.g. запотевший стакан – fogged-up glass, masc.)
- feminine: запотевшая (e.g. запотевшая дверь – fogged-up door)
- neuter: запотевшее → запотевшее зеркало
That’s why запотевшее is used here.
Запотевшее is a full-form active past participle used as an adjective.
It’s formed from the perfective verb запотеть (to fog up, to become misted/steamed up).
Roughly:
- запотеть → past active participle → запотевший / запотевшее / запотевшая / запотевшие
In this sentence, it functions just like an adjective, describing the state of the mirror:
- запотевшее зеркало = a mirror that has fogged up / a fogged-up mirror
All of these English words are close. Запотевшее зеркало usually means:
- the mirror is covered with condensation (tiny drops of water), typically after a hot shower or bath.
Possible translations:
- a fogged-up mirror
- a steamed-up mirror
- a misted-up mirror
The core idea: it has become cloudy from moisture.
The preposition в can take either:
- prepositional case → location (in, at, inside somewhere)
- accusative case → direction (into, to somewhere)
Here we talk about location (where the mirror is / where I’m looking):
- в ванной – in the bathroom (prepositional case, feminine singular of ванная)
If we said в ванную, that would be accusative → direction:
- Я иду в ванную. – I’m going into the bathroom.
So в ванной is correct for in the bathroom (static location).
There are two similar nouns:
ванная (комната) – bathroom (the room)
- prepositional: в ванной = in the bathroom
ванна – bathtub
- prepositional: в ванне = in the bathtub
In everyday speech:
- в ванной almost always means in the bathroom.
- в ванне means in the bathtub (often literally in the tub with water).
In your sentence, в ванной = in the bathroom (room), not inside the tub.
Russian does not have a separate continuous tense like English (I look vs I am looking).
The present tense я смотрю can mean both:
- I look / I watch (habitually)
- I am looking / I am watching (right now)
Context decides. In your sentence, it’s naturally understood as I am looking at the moment:
- Я смотрю на запотевшее зеркало в ванной. – I am looking at the fogged-up mirror in the bathroom.
Yes. In Russian, subject pronouns (я, ты, он, etc.) are often omitted because the verb ending already shows the person:
- Я смотрю → смотрю (the ending -ю shows first person singular)
So Смотрю на запотевшее зеркало в ванной. is grammatically correct and natural, especially in informal speech or in a diary-like style. It still clearly means I am looking...
Both are correct, but the nuance is different:
смотреть на зеркало – to look at the mirror (as an object / surface)
Focus: the mirror itself, its surface, condition (fogged, dirty, broken, etc.)смотреть в зеркало – to look in(to) the mirror (at your reflection)
Focus: what you see in it, usually your own reflection.
In your sentence, на suggests you’re focusing on the fogged surface of the mirror, not your reflection. If you were admiring or checking your reflection, в зеркало would be more typical.
Yes. Russian word order is relatively flexible, especially in spoken language. All of these are possible and correct, with slightly different emphasis:
Я смотрю на запотевшее зеркало в ванной.
Neutral: I am in the bathroom, looking at the fogged-up mirror.Я в ванной смотрю на запотевшее зеркало.
Slight emphasis on being in the bathroom: As for in the bathroom, I am (there) looking at the fogged-up mirror.В ванной я смотрю на запотевшее зеркало.
Stronger emphasis on the location: In the bathroom, I’m looking at the fogged-up mirror (and not somewhere else).
The basic meaning remains the same; word order mostly affects nuance and emphasis.
Russian has no articles (the, a/an) at all.
Whether English uses a or the depends on context and what sounds natural in English. In Russian, context alone tells you if something is specific or general.
Here, in English we would almost always say:
- the mirror
- the bathroom
because they are specific, known from context (typically the bathroom of the house/flat, the mirror there).
In Russian, зеркало and ванной can mean either a mirror / a bathroom or the mirror / the bathroom; the article is simply not expressed.
Yes, you can say Я вижу запотевшее зеркало – it’s correct, but the meaning is different:
смотреть = to look (at), to watch – an active, intentional action
- Я смотрю на запотевшее зеркало. – I am looking at the fogged-up mirror (I direct my eyes there).
видеть = to see – a perception, often without emphasizing intention
- Я вижу запотевшее зеркало. – I see a fogged-up mirror (it’s in my field of vision).
Your original sentence stresses the action of looking, not just the fact that the mirror is visible.