Questions & Answers about Девочка красиво поёт песню.
Why is it девочка and not девушка for girl?
Russian distinguishes several common words for females:
- девочка – a girl, typically a child or young teenager. Very clearly “a little/young girl.”
- девушка – a young woman / teenage girl, usually from about 14–15 up to late twenties. Often implies someone who is no longer a child.
- женщина – an adult woman.
In Девочка красиво поёт песню, the speaker is clearly talking about a child. If you used Девушка красиво поёт песню, it would sound like “The young woman (or teen girl) sings the song beautifully.”
Why is девочка in this form and not девочку or девочке?
Девочка here is the subject of the sentence, the one doing the action (singing). Subjects take the nominative case.
- Nominative singular (subject): девочка – the girl (as subject)
- Accusative singular (direct object): девочку
- Dative singular (indirect object / “to the girl”): девочке
Because the girl is doing the action, we use nominative: Девочка красиво поёт песню.
If she were the object, you’d see девочку, e.g. Я вижу девочку – I see the girl.
Why does песню end in -ю?