Утки подплывают к ребёнку за хлебом.

to

Breakdown of Утки подплывают к ребёнку за хлебом.

• за: for
• хлеб: the bread
• ребёнок: the child

Questions & Answers about Утки подплывают к ребёнку за хлебом.

Why is it утки and not the singular утка?

Утки is the nominative plural form of утка (duck).

Russian, like English, uses the plural when you are clearly talking about more than one duck. The sentence describes a general situation where several ducks are swimming up to the child for bread, so the subject is plural.

• утка – one duck
• утки – ducks (subject form, nominative plural)

If you wanted to speak about one duck, you would say:

• Утка подплывает к ребёнку за хлебом.
  A duck is swimming up to the child for bread.

What does подплывают mean exactly, and how is it different from плывут?

Both verbs are imperfective and describe a process:

• плывут – they are swimming (no focus on destination)
• подплывают – they are swimming up / approaching by swimming

The prefix под- often adds the idea of movement toward something / coming closer.

So:

• Утки плывут. – The ducks are (just) swimming.
• Утки подплывают к ребёнку. – The ducks are swimming up to / toward the child.

In the original sentence, the fact that they are approaching the child (not just swimming somewhere) is important, so подплывают is used.

Is present tense, and what aspect is it?