Я вешаю пальто в шкаф.

I am hanging my coat in the wardrobe.

Breakdown of Я вешаю пальто в шкаф.

• я: I
• в: in
• шкаф: the wardrobe
• пальто: the coat
• вешать: to hang

Questions & Answers about Я вешаю пальто в шкаф.

Why is пальто the same form here? Shouldn’t it change in the accusative case?

Пальто is an indeclinable noun in Russian. That means it does not change form in any case or number:

• nominative: пальто
• accusative: пальто
• genitive: пальто, etc.

Even in plural it stays пальто.
So in this sentence, пальто is the direct object in the accusative case, but it just looks identical to the nominative form.

Why is it в шкаф, not в шкафу?

The choice between в шкаф and в шкафу depends on direction vs. location:

• в шкаф (+ accusative) = movement into something, direction
  
  • Я вешаю пальто в шкаф. – I am hanging the coat into the wardrobe.
• в шкафу (+ prepositional) = being in something, location
  
  • Пальто в шкафу. – The coat is in the wardrobe.

Because the verb вешаю describes putting/hanging something into the wardrobe (a change of location), Russian uses в + accusative: в шкаф.

Why does шкаф stay шкаф in the accusative? Shouldn’t it change?

Шкаф is a masculine, inanimate noun. For such nouns:

• nominative singular: шкаф
• accusative singular: шкаф (same as nominative)

They only change in the accusative if they are animate (people, animals).
So в шкаф is the correct accusative form after a verb of movement.

Can I say в шкафу with вешаю, or is that wrong?

With вешаю (hanging something to a place), в шкафу is usually not appropriate, because:

• Я вешаю пальто в шкаф. – I am moving the coat into the wardrobe (correct).
• Пальто висит в шкафу. – The coat is hanging in the wardrobe (state, location).

В шкафу works with verbs describing a state/location: висит, лежит, стоит, находится.
With verbs of putting/moving (e.g. вешать, класть, ставить), you normally need в + accusative: в шкаф.

How is the Russian present used here? Does я вешаю mean I hang or I am hanging?

Russian has only one present tense form; it covers both English simple and continuous:

• Я вешаю пальто в шкаф.
  
  • can mean I am hanging the coat in the wardrobe (right now).
  • or I hang the coat in the wardrobe (whenever I come home).

Context decides whether the meaning is present continuous or present simple.

What is the difference between вешаю and повешу / повесил?

This is about aspect:

• вешаю – from вешать, imperfective aspect
  
  • process, repeated or habitual actions
  • Я вешаю пальто в шкаф. – I am in the process of hanging / I usually hang it there.
• повешу – future of повесить, perfective aspect
  
  • one complete action, result emphasized
  • Я повешу пальто в шкаф. – I will hang the coat in the wardrobe (and it will be there).
• повесил – past of повесить, perfective
  
  • Я повесил пальто в шкаф. – I hung the coat in the wardrobe (it’s done).

Imperfective (вешать) focuses on the process or repetition; perfective (повесить) focuses on the single completed act.

Why is it вешаю, not something reflexive like вешаюсь?

Reflexive verbs in Russian typically end in -сь / -ся and mean the action is done to oneself, or they have special meanings (e.g. мыться – to wash oneself).

• вешать что-то – to hang something (transitive)
  
  • Я вешаю пальто. – I hang the coat.
• вешаться – exists, but means to hang oneself (suicide), a completely different meaning.

So you must not say я вешаюсь пальто; that would be ungrammatical and also suggest the wrong verb meaning.

What person and number is вешаю, and how is it formed?

Вешаю is 1st person singular, present tense of вешать:

• infinitive: вешать
• stem: веша-
• ending: -ю for я (1st person singular, 1st conjugation)

Full present tense paradigm:

• я вешаю – I hang / I am hanging
• ты вешаешь – you hang (singular, informal)
• он / она / оно вешает – he / she / it hangs
• мы вешаем – we hang
• вы вешаете – you hang (plural or formal)
• они вешают – they hang

Does пальто have a gender if it never changes form?

Yes. Even though пальто is indeclinable, it still has grammatical gender: it is neuter.

You can see this in adjective and past-tense agreement:

• новое пальто – a new coat (новое is neuter)
• Моё пальто намокло. – My coat got wet (моё and намокло are neuter forms)

So: indeclinable in form, but neuter in gender.

Could I say the sentence with a different word order, like Я вешаю в шкаф пальто?

Yes, Russian word order is more flexible than English. Possible variants:

• Я вешаю пальто в шкаф. – neutral, most natural.
• Я вешаю в шкаф пальто. – also possible; sounds a bit marked or stylistic, but understandable.
• Пальто я вешаю в шкаф. – emphasizes пальто.
• В шкаф я вешаю пальто. – emphasizes в шкаф (the place).

The basic neutral order is subject – verb – object – place:
Я вешаю пальто в шкаф.

Why is it в шкаф, not на шкаф?

В and на both mean something like in / into / on / onto, but they are used with different kinds of locations:

• в шкаф – into the inside of the wardrobe (container, enclosed space)
• на шкаф – onto the top of the wardrobe (surface)

So:

• Я вешаю пальто в шкаф. – I hang the coat inside the wardrobe.
• Я кладу коробку на шкаф. – I put the box on top of the wardrobe.

How is the sentence pronounced, and where is the stress?

Stresses:

• Я – [ya]
• вéшаю – stress on the first syllable: вЕшаю
• пальтó – stress on -то: пальтО
• в шкаф – шкаф is stressed: шкаф

Approximate pronunciation (IPA-style, simplified):

• Я вешаю пальто в шкаф.
  
  • [ya VYE-sha-yu pal-TO f shKAF]

Note that в before шкаф is often devoiced and blends with ш, sounding like фш or just a stronger ш.