Новые слова расширяют мой словарь.

New words expand my dictionary.

Breakdown of Новые слова расширяют мой словарь.

• мой: my
• новый: new
• слово: the word
• словарь: the dictionary
• расширять: to expand

Questions & Answers about Новые слова расширяют мой словарь.

Why is it новые слова and not новый слова?

In Russian, adjectives must agree with the noun in:

• gender
• number (singular/plural)
• case

Слова is the plural form of слово (a neuter noun). So the adjective must also be plural, not singular.

• новый = masculine, singular, nominative (e.g. новый дом – a new house)
• новое = neuter, singular, nominative (e.g. новое слово – a new word)
• новые = plural, nominative (for any gender in plural: новые слова, новые книги, новые дома)

Since слова is plural and is the subject of the sentence, новые must be plural nominative too: новые слова.

What case are новые слова in, and how can I tell?

Новые слова are in the nominative plural case.

How to tell:

• Ask: Who or what is doing the action? → Новые слова are doing the action (they expand something).
• The subject of a standard Russian sentence is normally in the nominative case.
• The basic dictionary form is слово. The nominative plural of слово is слова.

So новые слова = new words as the subject → nominative plural.

What case is мой словарь, and why does it look the same as the dictionary form словарь?

Мой словарь is in the accusative case, because it is the direct object:

• What do the new words expand? → мой словарь (my vocabulary).

For inanimate masculine nouns like словарь, the accusative singular form is identical to the nominative singular:

• nominative: словарь (subject) – Словарь лежит на столе. (The dictionary is on the table.)
• accusative: словарь (object) – Я купил словарь. (I bought a dictionary.)

So even though мой словарь functions as an object here, its form is the same as in the nominative.

Why is it расширяют and not расширяет or расширяю?

Расширяют is:

• 3rd person
• plural
• present tense
• imperfective aspect

The verb’s subject is новые слова (they), which is 3rd person plural. So the verb must also be 3rd person plural:

• я расширяю – I expand
• ты расширяешь – you (sg.) expand
• он / она / оно расширяет – he / she / it expands
• они расширяют – they expand

Because новые слова = они (they), the correct form is расширяют.

What is the infinitive of расширяют, and what aspect is it?

The infinitive is расширять.

• расширять – imperfective aspect: to be expanding, to expand in general, to expand repeatedly or as a process.

The corresponding perfective infinitive is расширить:

• расширить – to expand (once, to a result, to complete the expansion)

In the sentence Новые слова расширяют мой словарь, the focus is on an ongoing, general fact: new words (in general) expand my vocabulary, so the imperfective present расширяют is natural.

Why is it мой словарь and not моя словарь?

Because словарь is a masculine noun.

Possessive pronouns also agree with the noun in gender, number, and case:

• мой – masculine, singular, nominative/accusative (e.g. мой друг, мой словарь)
• моя – feminine, singular, nominative (e.g. моя книга)
• моё – neuter, singular, nominative (e.g. моё слово)
• мои – plural, nominative/accusative (e.g. мои слова, мои книги)

So with словарь (masculine), you use мой словарь, not моя словарь.

Does словарь mean dictionary or vocabulary here?

Literally, словарь most often means dictionary (a physical or digital book of words).

However, it can also be used metaphorically for a person’s vocabulary – the set of words they know and can use. In educational and everyday speech, Russians often say:

• расширять словарный запас – to expand one’s vocabulary
• расширять словарь – to expand one’s vocabulary (shorter, more colloquial/figurative)

So in this sentence, мой словарь is best understood as my vocabulary, not a physical dictionary.

Could I say словарный запас instead of словарь? How would that change the sentence?

Yes, you can. A very natural variant is:

• Новые слова расширяют мой словарный запас.

Словарный запас literally means lexical stock, and is the standard term for a person’s vocabulary. This version sounds more formal/neutral and unambiguously refers to vocabulary, not a physical dictionary.

So:

• Новые слова расширяют мой словарь. – natural, slightly more figurative/metaphorical.
• Новые слова расширяют мой словарный запас. – very clear and standard for vocabulary.

Can I change the word order, for example: Мой словарь расширяют новые слова?

Grammatically, Мой словарь расширяют новые слова is possible, but:

• It sounds more unusual and marked in modern Russian.
• It can sound like you’re emphasizing мой словарь (as something being affected) or creating a slightly poetic or stylistic effect.

The most natural, neutral word order is the original:

• Новые слова расширяют мой словарь.

Other variants:

• Мой словарь расширяют новые слова. – stylistic, emphasizing мой словарь.
• Новые слова мой словарь расширяют. – very marked, poetic or rhetorical, not typical for everyday speech.

Russian has flexible word order, but the neutral pattern for this sentence is Subject – Verb – Object: Новые слова расширяют мой словарь.

What is the plural of слово, and how is слова pronounced?

The singular is:

• слово – слО-во (stress on the first о)

The nominative plural is:

• слова – сло-ВА́ (stress moves to the last а)

So there is a stress shift from singular to plural:

• слОво (one word)
• слова́ (words)

In the sentence Новые слова расширяют мой словарь, you should stress the last syllable: новые слова́. This stress shift is common with many neuter nouns in -о.