Обсуждение продолжается.

The discussion continues.

Breakdown of Обсуждение продолжается.

• обсуждение: the discussion
• продолжаться: to continue

Questions & Answers about Обсуждение продолжается.

Why is there no word for “the” or “a” before обсуждение?

Russian does not use articles at all—there is no direct equivalent of English “a/an/the”.

Whether you translate обсуждение продолжается as “A discussion continues” or “The discussion continues” depends entirely on context, not on anything in the Russian grammar. The bare noun обсуждение can correspond to a discussion, the discussion, or just discussion in English.

What is the grammatical form of обсуждение here (gender, number, case)?

In Обсуждение продолжается:

• обсуждение is a noun
• gender: neuter
• number: singular
• case: nominative (it is the subject of the sentence)

It belongs to a common neuter declension type ending in ‑ие:

• Nom./Acc. sg.: обсужде́ние – “discussion” (subject or direct object)
• Gen. sg.: обсужде́ния – “of (the) discussion”
• Dat. sg.: обсужде́нию – “to/for (the) discussion”
• Inst. sg.: обсужде́нием – “with/by (the) discussion”
• Prep. sg.: обсужде́нии – “about/in (the) discussion”

Where does the noun обсуждение come from? Is it related to a verb?

Yes. Обсуждение is a verbal noun derived from the verb обсуждать – “to discuss”.

Pattern:

• verb: обсужда́ть – “to discuss”
• noun: обсужде́ние – “discussion”

The suffix ‑ние / ‑ение is very common for making abstract nouns that correspond to English ‑ing / ‑tion:

• обсужда́ть → обсужде́ние – discuss → discussion
• чита́ть → чтение – read → reading
• реша́ть → реше́ние – solve/decide → solution/decision

What exactly is продолжается grammatically?

Продолжается is:

• from the verb продолжа́ться – “to continue, to go on” (intransitive, reflexive)
• aspect: imperfective
• tense: present
• person: 3rd person
• number: singular

So обсуждение продолжается literally:
“Discussion continues / is continuing.”

Form breakdown:

• продолжа‑ – stem “continue”
• ‑ет – 3rd person singular present ending (in non‑reflexive verbs)
• ‑ся – reflexive ending, giving продолжается

Why does the verb have ‑ся at the end? What’s the difference between продолжается and продолжает?

The ending ‑ся (or ‑сь) marks the verb as reflexive. Here, the reflexive form продолжа́ться is used in an impersonal / intransitive way: the process just continues by itself.

• обсуждение продолжается
  = “The discussion continues / is ongoing.”

Продолжать without ‑ся is a regular transitive verb “to continue something”:

• Мы продолжаем обсуждение.
  “We continue the discussion.” / “We are continuing the discussion.”

Compare:

• Обсуждение продолжается. – No agent mentioned; the discussion is simply going on.
• Мы продолжаем обсуждение. – The subject мы are explicitly doing the continuing.

So ‑ся here lets you talk about the process as something that “just goes on,” without saying who is actively “continuing” it.

Can I say “обсуждение продолжает” instead of “обсуждение продолжается”?

No, обсуждение продолжает by itself is incorrect.

• Продолжать needs a direct object:
  Он продолжает обсуждение. – “He continues the discussion.”

If you make обсуждение the subject, you either:

1. Use the reflexive verb:

   • Обсуждение продолжается. – “The discussion continues.”

2. Or give it something to continue (which is rare and usually unnatural):

   • Обсуждение продолжает традицию…
     “The discussion continues the tradition…”

For your sentence, the natural form is продолжается, not продолжает.

Could I also say “Продолжается обсуждение”? Is word order important here?

Yes, Продолжается обсуждение is also correct.

Basic meaning is the same, but there is a nuance in emphasis:

• Обсуждение продолжается.
  Neutral, slightly more focus on обсуждение (“The discussion is what continues.”)

• Продолжается обсуждение.
  Slightly more focus on the fact of continuing (“What’s continuing? The discussion.”)

In normal speech, both orders are fine. Russian word order is relatively flexible and is often used to shift emphasis rather than to mark grammar roles (subject/object).

What aspect / tense contrast would you use for past and future with this verb?

With продолжа́ться (imperfective, reflexive) and продолжи́ться (perfective, reflexive):

Present (imperfective only):

• Обсуждение продолжается.
  “The discussion continues / is continuing.”

Past:

• Imperfective: Обсуждение продолжалось.
  “The discussion was continuing / went on (for some time).”
• Perfective: Обсуждение продолжилось.
  “The discussion (then) continued / resumed (as a single event or step).”

Future:

• Imperfective (compound future): Обсуждение будет продолжаться.
  “The discussion will be continuing / will go on (over time).”
• Perfective (simple future): Обсуждение продолжится.
  “The discussion will continue / will resume (at some point).”

Imperfective = ongoing process; perfective = a bounded event (start/resume/enter the state of continuing).

What is the difference between Обсуждение продолжается and Мы продолжаем обсуждение?

Both can be translated as “The discussion continues,” but they highlight different things:

1. Обсуждение продолжается.

   • Grammatically: discussion is the subject.
   • No agent is mentioned.
   • Focus on the state/process: “The discussion is (still) going on.”

2. Мы продолжаем обсуждение.

   • мы (“we”) is the subject.
   • обсуждение is the object of продолжаем.
   • Focus on the doers: “We are continuing the discussion.”

Use Обсуждение продолжается when you simply report that the discussion is still happening, without saying who is making it continue.

How do you pronounce Обсуждение продолжается? Where is the stress?

Stresses:

• обсужде́ние – stress on де́
• продолжа́ется – stress on жа́

Approximate pronunciation (Latin letters):

• обсужде́ние – ab‑soozh‑DYEH‑nee‑ye
• продолжа́ется – pra‑da‑LZHA‑yeet‑sya

More precisely:

• обсуждение: [ɐpˈsʊʐdʲɪnʲɪje]
  
  • the б in обс‑ is devoiced and sounds like п because of the following с
• продолжается: [prədɐˈʐajɪtsə]

Syllable division:

• об‑су‑жде‑ни‑е
• про‑до‑лжа‑ет‑ся