Безопасность на улице важна.

Safety in the street is important.

Breakdown of Безопасность на улице важна.

• на: on
• улица: the street
• важный: important
• безопасность: the safety

Questions & Answers about Безопасность на улице важна.

Why is there no word for “is” in Безопасность на улице важна?

Russian normally omits the verb “to be” (быть) in the present tense when linking a subject and a description.

• English: “Street safety is important.”
• Russian literally: “Street safety important.”

The idea of “is” is understood from context.
If you add есть here (Безопасность на улице есть важна), it sounds unnatural or wrong in normal modern Russian.

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Why is it важна and not важно?

Важна agrees in gender with безопасность.

• Безопасность is grammatically feminine.
• The short-form adjective важный (important) has:
  • masculine: важен
  • feminine: важна
  • neuter: важно
  • plural: важны

So you must use важна (feminine) to match безопасность.

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How do I know that безопасность is feminine?

Several clues:

1. It ends in -ость.
   Almost all abstract nouns in -ость (скорость, радость, мудрость, безопасность) are feminine.

2. Adjectives and past verbs that refer to it use feminine forms:

   • важна (fem.)
   • была важна (was important, fem.)

With time, you start to recognize that most -ость nouns are feminine by default.

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What exactly is важна grammatically? Is it an adjective?

Yes. Важна is the short-form of the adjective важный (important), feminine singular.

• Full form (attributive): важная безопасность – important safety (as a quality describing a noun)
• Short form (predicative): Безопасность важна – Safety is important.

In sentences like this, Russian strongly prefers the short form to say “X is important / necessary / possible / clear”, etc.

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Why is it на улице and not на улица?

Because на here requires the prepositional case.

• Dictionary (nominative) form: улица
• Prepositional singular: на улице

Pattern (for many feminine -а nouns):

• Nom.: улица
• Prep.: об улице, на улице

So улице is just улица in the prepositional case after the preposition на (on / in / at).

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What does на улице really mean here: “on the street”, “in the street”, or “outside”?

На улице can mean all of these, depending on context:

1. Very often it means “outside” in general:

   • Дети играют на улице. – The children are playing outside.

2. It can also mean “in the street / out on the street”.

In Безопасность на улице важна, it’s a general statement about safety when you are outside / out in the streets.

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What case is на улице, and what is the general rule with на?

Улице is in the prepositional case.

The preposition на can take:

• Prepositional: for location (where?):

  • на улице – on the street / outside
  • на столе – on the table

• Accusative: for direction (where to?):

  • на улицу – (to) the street / outside
  • на стол – (onto) the table

In this sentence, we talk about a situation where something is happening (safety on the street), so we use на + prepositional: на улице.

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Could I say уличная безопасность instead of безопасность на улице?

Yes, уличная безопасность is a correct and natural phrase meaning “street safety”.

However, there is a nuance:

• Безопасность на улице важна.
  More everyday, picture-like: Safety when you are out on the street is important.

• Уличная безопасность важна.
  Sounds more formal / technical, like a topic in a report, law, or policy discussion: Street safety is important.

Both are grammatically correct. The original sentence sounds more neutral and conversational.

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Why isn’t it Безопасность на улице важная?

Because in a simple “X is important” sentence, Russian uses the short form of the adjective:

• Correct: Безопасность на улице важна.
• Безопасность на улице важная. – feels incomplete; you expect a noun after it, e.g.:
  
  • Безопасность на улице — важная тема. – Street safety is an important topic.

So:

• важна – is important (short form, predicate)
• важная – important (full form, usually before a noun or with an implied noun)

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Where would the stress fall in Безопасность на улице важна?

Stresses are:

• безопа́сность – be-zo-PÁS-nost’ (stress on the second а)
• у́лице – OO-li-tse (stress on у)
• важна́ – vazh-NÁ (stress on the last а)

So, with stress marks: Безопа́сность на у́лице важна́.

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Can I change the word order, like Важна безопасность на улице?

Yes, Russian word order is flexible. All of these are possible:

• Безопасность на улице важна. – neutral, factual.
• Важна безопасность на улице. – slightly emphasizes the importance: What’s important is street safety.
• На улице важна безопасность. – emphasizes safety as the key thing on the street.

The basic meaning stays the same; the differences are about emphasis and style, not grammar correctness.

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How would I say “Street safety was important / will be important” using this structure?

You keep безопасность на улице the same and change only the verb быть ()inside the form of the adjective phrase:

• Безопасность на улице была важна. – Street safety was important.

  • была: past tense, feminine, agreeing with безопасность.

• Безопасность на улице будет важна. – Street safety will be important.

  • будет: future tense (3rd person singular).

The важна stays feminine to match безопасность; the tense is shown by была / будет.