Learn Hardcore Russian: Ребёнок садится на скамейку.

Russian doesn’t distinguish between “sits down” and “is sitting down” in the verb form; the context decides which English aspect sounds better.

2. What is the difference between садится and сидит?

They describe two different situations:

садится (from садиться) – to sit down, to be in the process of sitting down (movement/change of position)
- Ребёнок садится на скамейку. – The child is sitting down on the bench.
сидит (from сидеть) – to be sitting (static position, no movement)
- Ребёнок сидит на скамейке. – The child is sitting on the bench (already seated).

So:

садится = the action of moving into a sitting position.
сидит = the result state of already being seated.

3. Why does the verb end in -ся? What does садиться literally mean?

The ending -ся (or -сь after vowels) is a reflexive/“middle voice” marker in Russian.

The base verb is садить/сажать – to seat, to plant (to make someone/something sit / to plant something).
садиться is the reflexive form: to seat oneself, i.e. to sit down.

So:

сажать ребёнка на скамейку – to seat the child on the bench (you make the child sit).
ребёнок садится на скамейку – the child sits down on the bench (the child performs the action on himself).

The -ся shows that:

the subject is acting on itself,
and the verb is intransitive here (it doesn’t take a direct object).

4. What aspect and tense is садится? Does it mean “sits” or “is sitting”?

Садится is:

Aspect: imperfective (несовершенный вид)
Tense: present tense, 3rd person singular

In English, that imperfective present can correspond to:

“is sitting down” (right now, in progress), or
“sits down” (habitual or narrative).

So grammar-wise it could mean either; only context tells you whether to choose simple present or present continuous in English.

5. How would I say “will sit down on the bench” or “sat down on the bench” in Russian?

For a single, complete action (“sit down once”), Russian normally uses the perfective verb сесть:

Future:
- Ребёнок сядет на скамейку. – The child will sit down on the bench.
Past:
- Ребёнок сел на скамейку. – The child sat down on the bench.

You can also talk about future with the imperfective садиться, but then it has a more “process/habit” nuance:

Ребёнок будет садиться на скамейку. – The child will be sitting down on the bench / will (regularly) sit down on the bench.

6. Why is it на скамейку and not на скамейке?

With the preposition на, Russian uses two different cases depending on meaning:

Motion onto / change of location → Accusative case
- Ребёнок садится на скамейку.
  The child is moving onto the bench.
  → скамейку (accusative singular)
Location / where something is → Prepositional case
- Ребёнок сидит на скамейке.
  The child is on the bench (no movement).
  → скамейке (prepositional singular)

So садится implies movement onto the bench → на + accusative (скамейку).

7. What case is скамейку, and what is the dictionary form of this noun?

Dictionary (nominative singular) form: скамейка – bench
In the sentence: скамейку – this is accusative singular.

It’s a feminine noun of the common -а / -я declension pattern:

Singular (most important forms):

Nominative: скамейка – a bench
Accusative: скамейку – onto the bench (as object of motion на)
Prepositional: на скамейке – on the bench (location)

The change -а → -у is a typical feminine singular nominative → accusative change.

8. Could the sentence also be Ребёнок сидит на скамейке? What is the difference?

Yes, that is a different but related sentence:

Ребёнок садится на скамейку.
→ Focus on the action of sitting down, the movement.
Ребёнок сидит на скамейке.
→ Focus on the state of already sitting.

So you choose:

садится when describing getting into a sitting position,
сидит when describing being in a sitting position.

They are not interchangeable; the meaning changes from action to state.

9. Can the word order change, for example На скамейку садится ребёнок?

Yes, Russian word order is flexible, and На скамейку садится ребёнок is grammatically correct.

However, the word order affects emphasis:

Ребёнок садится на скамейку.
→ Neutral order (Subject–Verb–Object). Simple statement: The child sits down on the bench.
На скамейку садится ребёнок.
→ Brings “onto the bench” to the front; might fit a context like:
“Who is sitting down on the bench?” – “It’s the child who is sitting down on the bench.”
Or in a more poetic/narrative style.

Both mean the same basic thing; the difference is nuance and focus, not grammar.

10. Is ребёнок grammatically masculine or feminine? Can it refer to both boys and girls?

Ребёнок is grammatically masculine in Russian:

You say:
- маленький ребёнок (masc. adjective) – a small child
- он – he (for the child, grammatically)

However, semantically it can refer to:

a boy,
a girl,
any young child whose gender isn’t specified.

So it’s like English “child” (gender-neutral in meaning) but behaves like a masculine noun in grammar.

11. How do you pronounce Ребёнок and скамейку? What about the letter ё?

Pronunciation (stressed syllables in bold):

Ребёнок – re-BYO-nək
- IPA: [rʲɪˈbʲɵnək]
- Stress on ё, which sounds like “yo”.
скамейку – ska-MEY-ku
- IPA: [skɐˈmʲejku]
- Stress on -мей- / -mey-.

About ё:

The letter ё is always pronounced “yo” and is always stressed.
It is distinct from е (which is usually “ye” / “e”), but in everyday writing ё is often replaced by е even though the pronunciation stays “yo”.

12. Why do some texts write ребенок without ё? Is that the same word?

Yes, ребенок and ребёнок are the same word.

In modern Russian printing:

The letter ё is often written simply as е (ребёнок → ребенок),
But Russians know from context and dictionaries that it should be pronounced “ё” (re-BYO-nək).

Officially ё is a separate letter of the alphabet, but in many texts (books, newspapers, signs) it is replaced by е to save effort/space. Learners should mentally restore ё when needed.

13. Is скамейка the only word for “bench”? Are there alternatives?

Скамейка is a very common neutral word for a bench (especially a park bench).

Other options:

лавочка – a small bench, often more informal or homely; can sound a bit diminutive or cozy.
лавка – can mean an old-style bench, but also a small shop (context decides).
скамья – a more formal or literary word, often used for pews, school benches, or in official contexts.

For an ordinary park/playground bench, скамейка is the default safe choice.

14. Can I drop the subject and just say Садится на скамейку?

In normal neutral speech, you usually shouldn’t drop ребёнок here. The natural full sentence is:

Ребёнок садится на скамейку.

Just Садится на скамейку sounds incomplete, like “…is sitting down on the bench” without saying who.

However, in special contexts:

in a caption to a picture,
in literature if the subject is absolutely clear from the previous sentence,

you might see something like Садится на скамейку. as an elliptical (shortened) sentence. But for learners, it’s better to keep the explicit subject.