Дождь наконец прекращается.

The rain is finally stopping.

Breakdown of Дождь наконец прекращается.

• дождь: the rain
• наконец: finally
• прекращаться: to stop

Questions & Answers about Дождь наконец прекращается.

Why is прекращается in the present tense if the English translation is “is finally stopping / has finally stopped”?

Russian present tense often covers what English expresses with the present continuous (is stopping) and, in some contexts, with “just now” type meanings.

• Дождь наконец прекращается literally: “The rain finally stops / is stopping.”
• It describes a process happening right now, so present tense is natural in Russian.
• English usually chooses “is finally stopping” (present continuous) or sometimes “has finally stopped” depending on context, but Russian doesn’t need a separate continuous form.

What is the difference between прекращается, заканчивается, and перестаёт when talking about rain?

All three can be used for rain, but they feel slightly different:

• Дождь прекращается – the rain is stopping / coming to an end.
  Neutral, a bit more formal or “bookish”; focuses on the process coming to a halt.
• Дождь заканчивается – the rain is ending.
  Also common and neutral; sounds slightly less formal than прекращается.
• Дождь перестаёт (идти) – the rain stops (falling).
  Very common in spoken language; explicitly about the activity of raining stopping.

All are correct; the choice is mostly about style and nuance, not grammar.

What does the -ся at the end of прекращается mean?

-ся (or -сь after vowels) is the reflexive postfix. It can have several functions; here it makes the verb effectively intransitive:

• прекращать (что?) – to stop something (transitive)
  
  • Они прекращают работу. – They stop the work.
• прекращаться – to stop / to come to an end (by itself)
  
  • Работа прекращается. – The work is stopping / coming to an end.

In Дождь прекращается, there is no direct object: the rain itself is coming to an end. That’s why the reflexive form прекращаться is used.

Why is дождь in this form, and how does it agree with прекращается?

Дождь is in the nominative singular because it is the subject of the sentence.

• Nominative singular masculine noun: дождь
• 3rd person singular verb, present tense: прекращается

So structurally it’s:

• Дождь (subject) прекращается (verb)
  = The rain is stopping.

The verb form -ется matches a 3rd person singular subject like дождь.

Could I also say “Наконец дождь прекращается” or “Дождь прекращается, наконец”? Does the word order change the meaning?

All three are possible; the difference is nuance and emphasis:

1. Дождь наконец прекращается.
   Neutral; slight emphasis on “finally” as part of the whole statement.
2. Наконец дождь прекращается.
   Stronger emotional emphasis on наконец; almost like “Finally, the rain is stopping!”
3. Дождь прекращается, наконец.
   Sounds more expressive, sometimes slightly impatient or annoyed, like “The rain is stopping, at last!”

Grammatically they are all correct; choice depends on what you want to emphasize.

What part of speech is наконец, and what does it add to the sentence?

Наконец is primarily an adverb meaning “finally / at last”.

In Дождь наконец прекращается, it:

• Expresses the speaker’s attitude: relief, satisfaction, sometimes impatience.
• Does not change the core meaning “the rain is stopping”, but adds emotional and temporal coloring:

Without it:

• Дождь прекращается. – The rain is stopping.

With it:

• Дождь наконец прекращается. – The rain is finally stopping (at last!).

What is the aspect of прекращается, and how is it different from прекратится?

Прекращается comes from the imperfective verb прекращаться.
The perfective partner is прекратиться.

• Дождь прекращается.
  Imperfective, present: focuses on the ongoing process of stopping.
• Дождь прекратится.
  Perfective, future: “The rain will stop.” Focuses on the result — the completed stopping.

There is also a perfective past:

• Дождь наконец прекратился. – The rain has finally stopped / finally stopped.

So:

• прекращается → what is happening now.
• прекратится → what will happen and be completed.
• прекратился → what has already finished.

Why not say “Дождь наконец останавливается”? In English we say “the rain stops”.

You can say Дождь останавливается, but it sounds odd or metaphorical in most contexts.

• Останавливаться is typically for moving objects (a car, a person, a train) that stop moving.
• Rain is conceptualized not primarily as a “moving object” but as a weather phenomenon that starts and ends.

So Russian prefers verbs like:

• дождь прекращается / заканчивается / перестаёт (идти)

These sound natural for rain; останавливаться is not the usual choice here.

Is Дождь наконец прекращается the usual way to say “It’s finally stopping raining”, or is there a more common everyday version?

It’s correct and natural, but in casual speech, many people would say:

• Дождь наконец перестаёт (идти).
• Наконец дождь заканчивается.

Another very natural spoken pattern is to start with идти:

• Дождь шёл целый день, но сейчас наконец прекращается.
  It’s been raining all day, but now it’s finally stopping.

Your sentence is perfectly fine; it just sounds slightly more neutral or “literary” than some everyday alternatives.

How do you pronounce дождь and прекращается correctly, especially the consonant clusters and stress?

Pronunciation details:

• дождь

  • Stress: дождь (one syllable, stress on the only vowel).
  • The cluster -ждь is pronounced approximately as [ʐdʲ] (close to “zhdʲ”).
  • The ь (soft sign) doesn’t add a sound; it softens the д at the end.

• прекращается

  • Syllables: пре-кра-ща-е-тся
  • Stress: прекращАется (on -а-: -ща́-).
  • ща is pronounced like ща ~ “shcha” ([ɕːa] in careful speech).

So roughly: [droʐdʲ] [prʲɪkrɐˈɕːajɪtsə] (phonetic approximation).