Мы занимаемся грамматикой дома.

We study grammar at home.

Breakdown of Мы занимаемся грамматикой дома.

• грамматика: the grammar
• дома: at home
• мы: we
• заниматься: to study

Questions & Answers about Мы занимаемся грамматикой дома.

What exactly does заниматься mean here? Is it just “to study”?

Заниматься is often translated as “to study”, but its basic meaning is “to be occupied with / to engage in (some activity)”.

So Мы занимаемся грамматикой дома literally means:

• We are engaged in grammar at home → We study grammar at home.

Common uses of заниматься:

• заниматься спортом – to do sports / to exercise
• заниматься музыкой – to do music / to practice music
• заниматься русским языком – to study Russian

It often suggests a process or activity, sometimes with a nuance of working on something by yourself, not necessarily in a formal class.

Why does занимаемся end with -ся? What does this ending do?

The -ся (or -сь) ending is called the reflexive postfix. It comes from an old reflexive pronoun and is attached to the verb.

For заниматься, the -ся:

• shows that the verb is reflexive / “middle voice”, and
• changes the meaning of занимать (“to occupy [something/someone]”) into заниматься (“to occupy oneself with something, to engage in something”).

Conjugation of заниматься in the present tense:

• я занимаюсь
• ты занимаешься
• он / она / оно занимается
• мы занимаемся
• вы занимаетесь
• они занимаются

So занимаемся = “(we) are engaged in / study / do”.

Why is it грамматикой and not грамматика or грамматику?

Грамматикой is in the instrumental case (творительный падеж).

The verb заниматься always takes its object in the instrumental case, answering the question чем? (“with what? / in what?”).

• чем мы занимаемся? – грамматикой
• Мы занимаемся грамматикой.

Compare:

• Я занимаюсь спортом. – I do sports.
• Он занимается музыкой. – He does / studies music.
• Мы занимаемся русским языком. – We study Russian.

So you cannot say Мы занимаемся грамматику or Мы занимаемся грамматика here; грамматикой is required because of заниматься + instrumental.

How is the form грамматикой built from грамматика?

Грамматика is a feminine noun ending in -а. In the singular instrumental case, such nouns usually change -а to -ой (after a hard consonant) or -ей (after a soft consonant).

Declension (singular) of грамматика:

• Nominative (кто? что?): грамматика – Grammar (as a subject)
• Genitive (кого? чего?): грамматики
• Dative (кому? чему?): грамматике
• Accusative (кого? что?): грамматику
• Instrumental (кем? чем?): грамматикой
• Prepositional (о ком? о чём?): грамматике

So грамматика → грамматикой in the instrumental singular, which is exactly what is needed after заниматься.

Why is there no preposition before грамматикой (like “с” or “о”)?

In Russian, some verbs go directly with a specific case without any preposition.

Заниматься is one of those verbs: it takes the instrumental case with no preposition.

Pattern:

• заниматься + кем? чем? (instrumental, no preposition)

Examples:

• Я занимаюсь математикой.
• Они занимаются бизнесом.
• Мы занимаемся грамматикой.

So, no preposition is needed: not с грамматикой, just грамматикой.

What does дома mean exactly? How is it different from в доме?

Both relate to “home/house”, but they’re used differently:

• дома is an adverb meaning roughly “at home”.

  • Мы занимаемся грамматикой дома. – We study grammar at home.

• в доме is a prepositional phrase meaning “in the house / inside the building”.

  • Мы занимаемся грамматикой в доме. – We study grammar in the house (as opposed to outside, in the yard, etc.).

In everyday speech, дома usually means in your home/at home (where you live), not just any building.

Can I change the word order? For example, can I say Мы дома занимаемся грамматикой?

Yes, Russian word order is relatively flexible, and all of these are grammatically correct:

• Мы занимаемся грамматикой дома.
• Мы дома занимаемся грамматикой.
• Дома мы занимаемся грамматикой.
• Грамматикой мы занимаемся дома.

They all mean roughly “We study grammar at home”, but the focus changes slightly:

• Дома мы занимаемся грамматикой. – Emphasizes where (at home, not somewhere else).
• Грамматикой мы занимаемся дома. – Emphasizes what you do at home (grammar, not something else).

For a neutral, simple statement, Мы занимаемся грамматикой дома is perfectly standard.

Can the pronoun мы be left out?

Yes. In Russian, subject pronouns are often omitted when the verb form already shows the person and number clearly.

So:

• Мы занимаемся грамматикой дома.
  and
• Занимаемся грамматикой дома.

are both possible.

The second version sounds a bit more like a note, a heading, or an answer to “Что вы делаете дома?” – “Занимаемся грамматикой.”

What is the tense/aspect of занимаемся? Does it mean “we study” or “we are studying”?

Занимаемся is:

• present tense
• imperfective aspect (несовершенный вид)

Russian present imperfective can correspond to both:

• English Present Simple: We study grammar at home (regularly).
• English Present Continuous: We are studying grammar at home (right now).

So Мы занимаемся грамматикой дома can mean:

• a habit: “We study grammar at home (as our routine).”
• an ongoing action: “We are studying grammar at home (right now).”

Context will usually show which is meant.

Could I use учить or изучать instead of заниматься here? What’s the difference?

Yes, but the nuance and grammar change:

1. учить

   • When used with a subject you study, it takes the accusative case:
     • Мы учим грамматику дома. – We learn (are learning) grammar at home.
   • учить often suggests memorizing / learning content, sometimes more intensive or more like “to learn by heart”.

2. изучать

   • Also takes the accusative:
     • Мы изучаем грамматику дома. – We study grammar at home.
   • изучать sounds a bit more thorough, systematic, academic – like “to study in depth”.

3. заниматься

   • instrumental (грамматикой)
   • Focuses on being engaged in the activity of grammar (doing exercises, working on it).
   • Slightly more neutral/colloquial for “doing your work, studying something”.

All are correct, but:

• Мы занимаемся грамматикой дома. – We work on grammar at home (doing our grammar “stuff”).
• Мы учим грамматику дома. – We are learning grammar at home.
• Мы изучаем грамматику дома. – We study grammar at home (maybe more formally/in-depth).

How should I pronounce Мы занимаемся грамматикой дома? Where is the stress?

Stresses:

• мы – [мы] (short, unstressed pronoun)
• занима́емся – stress on ма: за-ни-МА́-ем-ся
• грамма́тикой – stress on ма́: гра-МА́-ти-кой
• до́ма – stress on до́: ДО́-ма

Approximate pronunciation (in simplified English-like notation):

• Мы занима́емся грамма́тикой до́ма.
  – My zani-MA-ye-msya gra-MA-ti-kay DO-ma.

Pay special attention to:

• я in -емся: pronounced like “ye”
• ой in грамматикой: like “oy” in “boy” (but shorter)
• Unstressed о often sounds closer to “a” in Russian, except in до́ма, where о́ is stressed.