Эта книга хранится в шкафу.

This book is stored in the wardrobe.

Breakdown of Эта книга хранится в шкафу.

• в: in
• храниться: to be stored
• эта: this
• шкаф: wardrobe
• книга: book

Questions & Answers about Эта книга хранится в шкафу.

Why is it Эта and not Этот or Это?

Because книга is a feminine noun, and the demonstrative этот changes to agree with the noun’s gender, number, and case.

• masculine: этот (e.g., этот шкаф)
• feminine: эта (e.g., эта книга)
• neuter: это (e.g., это письмо)
• plural: эти (e.g., эти книги)

Here, книга is feminine nominative singular → Эта книга.

What case is книга in here, and why?

Книга is in the nominative case because it is the grammatical subject of the sentence: This book (the thing being talked about).
Even though the meaning is sort of passive (is kept/stored), Russian still commonly keeps the item as the subject with a verb like хранится.

What does хранится mean grammatically? Is it passive?

Хранится is the 3rd person singular present form of храниться (to be kept / to be stored).
It’s a reflexive verb (ends in -ся) and often functions like an English passive without using a separate passive construction.

So Эта книга хранится в шкафу is structurally like:

• This book stores-itself (not literal) → natural meaning: This book is kept/stored in the cupboard.

How is хранится formed from хранить?

Base verb: хранить = to keep / to store (someone stores something).
Reflexive/passive-like: храниться = to be kept / to be stored (something is stored somewhere).

Conjugation (present tense) for храниться:

• я хранюсь
• ты хранишься
• он/она/оно хранится
• мы хранимся
• вы хранитесь
• они хранятся

In the sentence, книга = she/it → хранится.

Why is в шкафу and not в шкаф?

Because в can take two different cases depending on meaning:

• в + accusative = motion/direction (into) → в шкаф (put it into the cupboard)
• в + prepositional = location (in) → в шкафу (it is in the cupboard)

Here it describes where the book is kept (location), so в шкафу (prepositional case).

Why does шкаф change to шкафу?

After в with a location meaning, Russian uses the prepositional case.
шкаф is masculine; its prepositional singular typically ends in -е or -у. For шкаф, the standard form is в шкафу.

So: шкаф (dictionary form, nominative) → в шкафу (prepositional after в meaning location).

Could I say Эта книга хранится в шкафе instead?

For шкаф, the normal and most natural form is в шкафу.
В шкафе is generally not the standard choice for шкаф (even though many masculine nouns do use -е in the prepositional). If you’re learning, treat в шкафу as the correct fixed form.

Is there an implied person doing the storing, like by someone?

Yes, often there is an implied “someone,” but Russian doesn’t have to mention it. Хранится lets you keep the focus on the book and its storage location.

If you wanted to include the doer, you would usually switch to an active structure, for example:

• Эту книгу хранят в шкафу. = They keep this book in the cupboard. (unspecified “they”)

What’s the difference between хранится and находится here?

They overlap but aren’t identical:

• хранится = is stored/kept (suggests purposeful keeping, storage as a practice)
• находится = is located/is situated (more neutral: just where it is)

So Эта книга хранится в шкафу implies it’s kept there as its normal storage place, not merely that it happens to be there.

Is the word order fixed? Could it be rearranged?

Russian word order is flexible, but changes emphasis. The neutral version is exactly what you have:

• Эта книга хранится в шкафу. (neutral)

Other options:

• В шкафу хранится эта книга. (emphasizes the location: in the cupboard it’s stored)
• Эта книга в шкафу хранится. (can sound more conversational; emphasis can shift depending on intonation)

In writing, the original is the safest neutral choice.