Скрипка звучит мягко, а пианино чуть громче.

The violin sounds soft, and the piano a bit louder.

Breakdown of Скрипка звучит мягко, а пианино чуть громче.

• звучать: to sound
• а: and
• скрипка: the violin
• пианино: the piano

Questions & Answers about Скрипка звучит мягко, а пианино чуть громче.

In the sentence, why does пианино not change its ending, and what gender is it in Russian?

Пианино is an indeclinable neuter noun.

• It was borrowed from Italian and keeps the same form in all cases and numbers:

  • новое пианино – a new piano (nom./acc.)
  • на пианино – on the piano (prep.)
  • к пианино – to(ward) the piano (dat.)

• Its grammatical gender is neuter, so:

  • adjectives: новое пианино, красивое пианино
  • pronouns: моё пианино, это пианино
  • verbs: пианино стоит в углу, пианино звучит громко

So in the sentence, пианино is nominative singular neuter, but its form simply doesn’t show that; you know it from context and agreement.

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Why is the verb звучит used here, and why is it singular when there are two instruments mentioned?