Learn Hardcore Russian: Дочка рада, что в зоопарке она увидит своё любимое животное — тигра. - My daughter is glad that at the zoo she will see her favorite animal

дочь – neutral, a bit more formal or bookish.
- e.g. Моя дочь живёт в Москве. – My daughter lives in Moscow.
дочка – diminutive/affectionate, like little daughter, daughter (dear). Very common in everyday speech.

In this sentence, дочка suggests a warmer, more informal tone, as if a parent is talking about their child.

Why is it рада and not рад?

Рад / рада / рады / радо are short-form adjectives meaning glad / happy and must agree with the subject in gender and number:

masculine singular: рад
feminine singular: рада
neuter singular: радо (rare, stylistic)
plural: рады

Since дочка is feminine, the predicate must also be feminine: дочка рада.

If the subject were masculine, it would be:

Сын рад, что… – The son is glad that…

What is the difference between рада and радостная / счастливая?

All can be translated as happy/glad, but they’re used a bit differently:

рада – short-form adjective, usually describes a current emotional state:
- Дочка рада, что… – The daughter is glad that…
радостная – full-form adjective, often describes a more general, characteristic quality or how someone looks/appears:
- радостная девочка – a joyful girl (in general, or at this moment)
счастливая – happy in a deeper, more lasting sense:
- счастливая женщина – a happy woman (in life, not just at one moment)

Here we’re talking about how she feels about this particular upcoming event, so рада is the most natural choice.

Why is there a comma before что?

In Russian, when что introduces a subordinate clause (that… in English), you almost always put a comma before it.

Here:

Main clause: Дочка рада – The daughter is glad
Subordinate clause: что в зоопарке она увидит своё любимое животное — тигра – that at the zoo she will see her favorite animal—the tiger

So we write:

Дочка рада, что …

This is a standard rule: comma before the conjunction что when it starts a subordinate clause.

In this sentence, does что mean what or that?

Here что is a conjunction and means that, not what.

Дочка рада, что… – The daughter is glad that…

It does not ask a question here. When что means what as a question word, the structure is different, and usually intonation or a question mark shows it:

Что она увидит в зоопарке? – What will she see at the zoo?

Why is the verb увидит used, and what tense is it?

Увидит is:

3rd person singular
future tense
perfective aspect
from the verb увидеть – to see (catch sight of, see once)

In Russian, the present forms of perfective verbs express future:

он увидит – he will see (once, as a complete event)

So она увидит = she will see.

Why is the perfective увидит used instead of видит or будет видеть?

Aspect choice:

увидит (perfective future) – a single, complete act in the future: she will (at some point) see it.
будет видеть (imperfective future) – a process or repeated action: she will be seeing / will keep seeing / will see (regularly).
видит – present tense: she sees / is seeing (now), not suitable for future here.

Since we’re talking about one future visit where she will see her favorite animal once, the perfective увидит is the natural choice.

Why is the main clause in the present (рада) but the subordinate clause in the future (увидит)?

Russian doesn’t use “sequence of tenses” the same way English sometimes does. Each verb simply takes the tense that matches its own time:

рада – she is glad now.
увидит – she will see it in the future.

So Russian says literally: She is glad that she will see…

This matches English here, but even in other contexts, Russian generally keeps the real time, not forcing both verbs into the same tense.

Why is the word order в зоопарке она увидит, and can we change it?

You can change the word order; Russian is flexible.

В зоопарке она увидит своё любимое животное…
- Puts в зоопарке first, setting the scene: At the zoo, she will see…
Она увидит в зоопарке своё любимое животное…
- More neutral order for English speakers: She will see at the zoo her favorite animal…

Both are grammatically correct. Word order in Russian often affects emphasis and information flow, not basic grammar.

Do we have to say она here, or could we omit it?

We can omit она:

…что в зоопарке увидит своё любимое животное…

Russian often drops subject pronouns when they are clear from context and verb endings. However, using она:

can make the sentence a bit clearer if there might be more than one feminine person in the context,
can slightly emphasize that she, specifically, will see it.

So both versions are possible; including она is natural and not redundant.

Why do we use своё instead of её for “her favorite animal”?

Свой / своя / своё / свои is a reflexive possessive pronoun: one’s own.

It is usually used when the possessor is the subject of the clause:

Subject: она
Possessed thing: своё любимое животное

Using своё tells us clearly that the animal belongs to the subject она; it avoids ambiguity that её can cause (because её could refer to some other “her” in context).

You could say:

…она увидит её любимое животное…

but then её might mean another girl’s favorite animal. Своё unmistakably means “her own.”

Why is it своё and not свой or своя?

Свой changes form to agree with the noun it modifies, not with the possessor:

masculine singular: свой (e.g. свой дом – one’s own house)
feminine singular: своя (e.g. своя книга – one’s own book)
neuter singular: своё (e.g. своё животное – one’s own animal)
plural: свои (e.g. свои дети – one’s own children)

Here, the noun is животное, which is:

neuter
singular

So the correct form is своё: своё любимое животное.

What case is животное in here, and why does it look like nominative?

Животное here is in the accusative singular, because it’s the direct object of увидит:

увидит (что?) животное – will see (what?) the animal.

For neuter singular nouns, the accusative form is identical to the nominative, both inanimate and animate. That’s why it looks like nominative:

nominative: животное
accusative: животное

Why is there a dash (—) before тигра?

The dash introduces an apposition: it explains or specifies what exactly her favorite animal is.

своё любимое животное — тигра
- literally: her favorite animal — the tiger

The dash here works like namely or that is, adding clarification or emphasis. A comma would also be possible in some contexts, but the dash gives a stronger, clearer pause and focus on тигра.

Why is it тигра and not тигр?

Тигра is accusative singular of тигр (tiger), which is a masculine animate noun.

For masculine animate nouns, the accusative singular takes the same form as the genitive singular:

nominative: тигр
genitive: тигра
accusative (animate): тигра

Because тигра is the direct object of увидит (she will see who?), it must be in the accusative:

увидит (кого?) тигра – will see (whom?) a/the tiger.

So тигр would be nominative, but here the grammar requires тигра.