Ребёнок опирается на забор.

The child is leaning on the fence.

Breakdown of Ребёнок опирается на забор.

• на: on
• ребёнок: the child
• забор: the fence
• опираться: to lean

Questions & Answers about Ребёнок опирается на забор.

What does опирается mean here exactly? Is it just “touches the fence”?

Опирается comes from опираться and means to lean on / to rest one’s weight on / to be supported by something.

So Ребёнок опирается на забор suggests that the child’s body weight is at least partly supported by the fence (for example, with hands, arms, or back). It’s stronger than just “touches”:

• касаться забора – to touch the fence (light contact)
• опираться на забор – to lean on the fence (using it for support)

In English this is usually translated as “The child is leaning on the fence.”

Why does the verb end in -ется: опирается and not just опирает?

The ending -ется shows two things:

1. Person and number

   • опирается = 3rd person singular (he/she/it):
     • он/она/оно опирается – he/she/it leans

2. Reflexive form (the -ся / -сь ending)
   The full infinitive is опираться (not опирать).
   Verbs with -ся are called reflexive verbs. They often:

   • describe actions directed at oneself or involving one’s own body position,
   • or just have -ся as part of their standard form with a fixed preposition, like опираться на.

There is a non‑reflexive verb опирать, but it’s rare and means “to support something (else) on something”, used mostly in technical or literary language.

So:

• Ребёнок опирается на забор. – The child leans on the fence.
• Рабочие опирают балку на стену. – The workers set the beam so that it rests on the wall. (non‑reflexive, rarer)

What is the infinitive of опирается, and how is this verb conjugated?

The infinitive is опираться (to lean, to rest on).

Present‑tense conjugation:

• я опираюсь – I lean (am leaning)
• ты опираешься – you lean (singular, informal)
• он / она / оно опирается – he / she / it leans
• мы опираемся – we lean
• вы опираетесь – you lean (plural or formal)
• они опираются – they lean

All these forms keep the reflexive ending -сь / -ся (written as -сь after a vowel, -ся after a consonant in the infinitive).

Why do we use на in на забор? Could we say к забору or use another preposition?

With опираться the standard construction is опираться на + accusative:

• опираться на стену – to lean on the wall
• опираться на стол – to lean on the table
• опираться на забор – to lean on the fence

The preposition на here means “onto / against, using as support.”

К забору (dative) would usually go with verbs like:

• подойти к забору – to walk up to the fence
• прислониться к забору – to lean against the fence (slightly different verb)

So:

• опираться на что – to lean on something (using it as support)
• прислониться к чему – to lean (press the body) against something

What case is забор in, and why does it look the same as in the dictionary form?

Забор is in the accusative singular after на.

• Dictionary (nominative singular): забор
• Accusative singular (masculine, inanimate): забор

For masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative form is identical to the nominative:

• вижу забор – I see the fence (accusative)
• забор высокий – the fence is high (nominative)

So even though the form забор doesn’t change, grammatically it is accusative in this sentence, governed by на with motion/contact meaning (“onto/against”).

Why is the verb in the present tense? How would you say it in the past or future?

In Russian, the present tense can represent both:

• English “leans on the fence” (habitual)
• and “is leaning on the fence” (right now)

So Ребёнок опирается на забор can mean either, depending on context.

Past tense (imperfective):

• Ребёнок опирался на забор. – The child was leaning / used to lean on the fence.

(If you want “leaned once (and did it completely)”, you’d more likely use the perfective опереться: Ребёнок опёрся на забор.)

Future tense (imperfective “will be doing / will (generally) do”):

• Ребёнок будет опираться на забор. – The child will lean / will be leaning on the fence.

Perfective future (single, completed action):

• Ребёнок опрётся на забор. – The child will (at some point) lean on the fence.

What’s the difference between опираться and опереться?

They form an aspect pair:

• опираться – imperfective
  Emphasises the process or repeated/habitual action:

  • Ребёнок долго опирается на забор. – The child is leaning on the fence for a long time.
  • Он всегда опирается на забор. – He always leans on the fence.

• опереться – perfective
  Emphasises a single, completed action (the “moment of leaning”):

  • Ребёнок опёрся на забор. – The child leaned (took support) on the fence.

In your sentence, опирается describes the state / ongoing action of leaning, so the imperfective is natural.

Is ребёнок masculine or feminine, and does that affect the verb form?

Ребёнок (child) is grammatically masculine, even though the word can refer to a child of any gender.

That’s why the verb is:

• Ребёнок опирается – third person singular, which is the same form for masculine, feminine, and neuter in the present tense.

In the past tense, gender would show:

• Ребёнок опирался на забор. – masculine (or unknown gender by default)
• If you clearly mean a girl, speakers still usually use the masculine past (because of the noun’s gender), not опиралась.

Adjectives agreeing with ребёнок also take masculine forms:

• маленький ребёнок – a small child (masc. adj.)

Can the word order change, like На забор опирается ребёнок? Does it sound natural?

Yes, Russian allows flexible word order. All of these are grammatically correct, but differ in emphasis:

1. Ребёнок опирается на забор.
   Neutral statement, most common: “The child is leaning on the fence.”

2. На забор опирается ребёнок.
   Emphasises на забор (the place/object):

   • For example: Not on the wall, on the fence.

3. Опирается на забор ребёнок.
   More stylistic / literary word order, stressing the action first, then clarifying that it is the child.

In everyday speech, your original order (Ребёнок опирается на забор) is the most natural.

How would the sentence change if there were several children leaning on the fence?

You would make both the noun and the verb plural:

• Дети опираются на забор. – The children are leaning on the fence.

Changes:

• Ребёнок → Дети (plural of “child”)
• опирается (3rd person singular) → опираются (3rd person plural)

How do you pronounce and stress each word in Ребёнок опирается на забор?

Approximate phonetic transcription (stressed syllables in bold):

1. Ребёнок – [ри‑бё‑нак]

   • Stress on ё (always stressed)
   • Sounds roughly like “ree‑BYO‑nak”.

2. опирается – [а‑пи‑ра‑йется]

   • Stress on ра: о‑пи‑РА‑ет‑ся
   • Approx: “a‑pee‑RAH‑yet‑sa”.

3. на – [на]

   • Short, unstressed, “nah”.

4. забор – [за‑бор]

   • Stress on the second syllable: за‑БОР
   • Approx: “za‑BOR”.

Together, with natural rhythm:
РебЁнок опирАется на забОр.

Why does the verb have -ся even though the child is not leaning on themselves? What is the role of this reflexive ending here?

In Russian, the -ся / -сь ending (reflexive) has several functions, and it does not always mean “oneself,” unlike English “myself / yourself.”

With опираться, the reflexive:

• is part of the basic dictionary form (it’s just how this verb is normally used),
• often signals that the subject is changing or maintaining their own body position.

Compare:

• мыться – to wash oneself
• улыбаться – to smile
• двигаться – to move
• опираться – to lean (one’s body) on something

So here, -ся is more about the type of verb (body posture/position, intransitive) than about a literal “on oneself.” The construction is опираться на что‑то, not “to lean oneself on something.”