Молния сверкнула над городом ночью.

the city

Breakdown of Молния сверкнула над городом ночью.

• над: over
• ночью: at night
• молния: the lightning

Questions & Answers about Молния сверкнула над городом ночью.

Why does the verb сверкнула end in -а?

The ending -а in сверкнула shows that the verb is:

• past tense
• feminine
• singular

In Russian, past-tense verbs agree in gender and number with the subject.

• Subject: молния – this is a feminine noun (like most nouns ending in -я)
• So the past tense must be: сверкнула (fem.), not сверкнул (masc.) or сверкнуло (neut.) or сверкнули (plural).

Compare:

• Гром сверкнул – The thunder flashed (masculine)
• Солнце сверкнуло – The sun flashed / sparkled (neuter)

Why is it сверкнула and not сверкала? What’s the difference?

Both come from the same verb idea “to flash / sparkle,” but they differ in aspect:

• сверкнула – perfective (one completed flash, a single event)
• сверкала – imperfective (ongoing or repeated flashing)

So:

• Молния сверкнула над городом ночью.
  → One flash, it happened and was over.

• Молния сверкала над городом всю ночь.
  → Lightning was flashing over the city all night (repeated / continuous).

English often uses context (was flashing, flashed) to show this, while Russian heavily uses aspect.