Learn Hardcore Russian: В окне маршрутки отражается небо, и лица людей выглядят как будто они думают о чём‑то важном. - In the window of the minibus the sky is reflected, and people’s faces look as if they are thinking about something important.

It comes from маршрут = route.
A маршрутка is usually a small bus or van that runs on a fixed route, but you can often get on and off between official stops.
It’s cheaper public transport, common in Russian‑speaking countries.

So в окне маршрутки = in the window of the minibus.

Why is it в окне маршрутки, not something like на окне маршрутки?

Russian uses different prepositions for different kinds of “in/on”:

в окне (prepositional case) literally “in the window”
- Used for things seen in the glass (reflection, what you see through it).
- окне is prepositional singular of окно.
на окне would usually mean “on the window” (physically on the surface, e.g. на окне сидит муха – “a fly is sitting on the window”).

Here we have a reflection, so Russian prefers в окне маршрутки отражается небо – “the sky is reflected in the window of the minibus.”

In отражается небо, which word is the subject, and why is the verb reflexive (отражается)?

The subject is небо (nominative singular).
отражается is the 3rd person singular of the reflexive verb отражаться.

Verb choice and structure:

отражаться = “to be reflected” (intransitive, reflexive).
- В окне отражается небо = The sky is reflected in the window.
Without ‑ся, отражать is usually transitive:
- Окно отражает небо = The window reflects the sky.

So the sentence focuses on the sky as something that appears in the window, not on the window doing the action. That’s why we get отражается небо, not окно отражает небо.

Can I change the order to Небо отражается в окне маршрутки? Does it change the meaning?

Yes, you can say:

Небо отражается в окне маршрутки.

Grammatically and semantically it’s the same: The sky is reflected in the window of the minibus.

Differences are mostly about emphasis and style:

В окне маршрутки отражается небо
- Starts from the window; the picture is built from the “frame” (the window) to what is inside it (the sky).
Небо отражается в окне маршрутки
- Starts from небо; emphasizes “the sky” first.

Both are natural; the original is a bit more “cinematic,” starting with the window.

Why do we say лица людей and not just лица or люди?

Лица людей literally = “faces of people / people’s faces.”

Formally:

лица – nominative plural (“faces”), head noun.
людей – genitive plural (“of people”), dependent noun.

Why this phrasing?

лица alone = “faces”, but not clearly whose faces.
люди alone with выглядят would shift focus to whole people:
- Люди выглядят как будто… = The people look as if…
- That can be used, but it feels more general and less visual than focusing on their faces.

Лица людей highlights exactly what we see: not their whole bodies, but their faces, with expressions suggesting thoughtfulness. It’s more vivid and concrete.

What cases are used in в окне маршрутки, лица людей, and о чём‑то важном?

Breakdown:

в окне маршрутки
- в окне – prepositional singular (окно → в окне)
- маршрутки – genitive singular (маршрутка → маршрутки)
  → in the window of the minibus
лица людей
- лица – nominative plural (лицо → лица), subject
- людей – genitive plural (люди → людей)
  → the faces of people / people’s faces
о чём‑то важном
- о
  - чём‑то – prepositional singular of что‑то
    - что (nom.) → о чём (prep.)
- важном – prepositional singular neuter adjective (важный → важном), agreeing with чём‑то
  → about something important

Why is there no comma before как будто? Should there be one?

In лица людей выглядят как будто они думают о чём‑то важном:

как будто introduces a clause они думают о чём‑то важном.

According to standard punctuation rules, when как будто (or будто, как будто бы) introduces a full clause with its own subject and verb, a comma is usually written:

Лица людей выглядят, как будто они думают о чём‑то важном.

So in careful written Russian, the comma is normally expected here.

However:

In some modern and especially informal texts, the comma is sometimes omitted when the writer feels как будто они думают… is very tightly bound to the verb выглядят, almost like part of one big predicate (“look-as-if-thinking”).
This is more stylistic and less safe for learners.

If you are learning Russian, it’s better to put the comma:
…выглядят, как будто они думают о чём‑то важном.

What is the difference between как, как будто, and будто?

All three can translate to something like “like/as/as if”, but they’re used differently:

как
- Basic “like / as”:
  - Он поёт как профессионал. – He sings like a professional.
- Often a simple comparison.
как будто
- Literally “as if”, “as though”:
  - Она смотрит, как будто не понимает. – She looks as if she doesn’t understand.
- Implies a comparison with a possible but not guaranteed reality.
будто
- Very similar to как будто, often a bit more literary:
  - Она смотрит, будто не понимает.
- Meaning again: as if / as though.

In your sentence:

лица людей выглядят как будто они думают…
→ the people’s faces look as if they are thinking…

You could also say:

…выглядят, будто они думают…
or …выглядят, как они будто думают… – unnatural, so usually just как будто or будто alone.

The most neutral choice here is exactly what you see: как будто.

In как будто они думают, does они refer to лица or люди?

Formally, они refers to лица:

лица – grammatically plural, in the nominative, so it’s the head noun.
So: лица (они) выглядят, как будто они думают…

However, semantically:

We understand that faces don’t literally think, people do.
This is a very common and natural type of semantic shift in Russian:
- grammatically the pronoun matches the head noun (лица),
- but logically we interpret it as the people whose faces these are.

So you can think of it as:
The faces (they) look as if *they [= the people] are thinking about something important.*

Why is it о чём‑то важном, not о что‑то важное?

Two main points: case and agreement.

The preposition о
- о (“about”) requires the prepositional case in modern standard Russian:
  - о ком? – о чём?
- So we must use чём, not что:
  - о чём‑то, not о что‑то.
Agreement with the adjective
- чём‑то is prepositional singular neuter.
- The adjective must match that:
  - важный → prepositional neuter важном.
- So: о чём‑то важном – “about something important”.

что‑то важное (= nominative: “something important”) could appear in other syntactic roles, e.g.:

Они думают о чём‑то важном. Может быть, это что‑то важное для всех нас.
(They are thinking about something important. Maybe it is something important for all of us.)

What does the ‑то in чём‑то mean?

The ‑то is an indefiniteness particle.

что = what
что‑то = something (unspecified), something or other

In oblique cases, the stem changes but ‑то stays:

Nominative: что‑то – something
Prepositional: о чём‑то – about something
Genitive: ничего vs чего‑то – of something
etc.

So о чём‑то важном = “about some important thing (we don’t specify which)”.

Why is думают (imperfective) used here? Could we use a perfective like подумали?

думают is imperfective and present tense:

думают = “are thinking / think” (ongoing process).

In the sentence:

…выглядят, как будто они думают о чём‑то важном.
→ the appearance is that they are in the process of thinking now.

Using a perfective like подумали would sound wrong here:

выглядят, как будто они подумали о чём‑то важном
- Perfective подумали suggests a single finished act of thinking (“they have thought about something important (and finished)”).
- That doesn’t fit the idea of a facial expression that suggests an ongoing mental process.

So here the imperfective present думают is exactly what we need to express a current, ongoing state suggested by their faces.

Are there other natural ways to phrase the second part (и лица людей выглядят как будто они думают о чём‑то важном)?

Yes, several variants are common and natural, with slightly different nuances:

…и лица людей выглядят, как будто они о чём‑то важном думают.
- Same words, but о чём‑то важном is moved before думают.
- Slight shift of emphasis toward what they are thinking about.
…и лица людей выглядят задумчивыми, как будто они думают о чём‑то важном.
- Adds задумчивыми (“thoughtful”), more descriptive.
…и по лицам людей видно, что они думают о чём‑то важном.
- Different construction: from the people’s faces it is clear that…
…и лица людей такие, будто они думают о чём‑то важном.
- Uses такие, будто… – “their faces are such that it’s as if…”

The original version is already very natural and vivid; these are just stylistic alternatives.