Questions & Answers about Маленький стол стоит у окна.
What are the grammar forms of each word in Маленький стол стоит у окна?
Word by word:
- Маленький – adjective, masculine, singular, nominative (agrees with стол).
- стол – noun, masculine, inanimate, singular, nominative (subject of the sentence).
- стоит – verb, 3rd person singular, present tense, imperfective, from стоять (to stand).
- у – preposition that takes the genitive case, here meaning by / near.
- окна – noun, neuter, singular, genitive (after у), dictionary form is окно (window).
Why is it маленький стол and not маленькая стол or маленькое стол?
In Russian, adjectives must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.
- стол is masculine, singular, nominative.
- The basic masculine nominative ending for this type of adjective is -ый / -ий.
- So the correct form is маленький стол.
If the noun were feminine, like лампа (lamp), you would say маленькая лампа.
If it were neuter, like окно, you would say маленькое окно.
Why do we use стоит here? In English we usually say is, not stands.