Эта дорога ведёт к вокзалу.

This road leads to the station.

Breakdown of Эта дорога ведёт к вокзалу.

• к: to
• вокзал: the station
• этот: this
• вести: to lead
• дорога: the road/way

Questions & Answers about Эта дорога ведёт к вокзалу.

Why is it эта дорога and not этот дорога or это дорога?

Because дорога is a feminine noun in Russian, and demonstratives agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

• эта = feminine, singular, nominative (this)
• этот = masculine, singular, nominative
• это = neuter, singular, nominative
  So with дорога (feminine), you use эта.

What case is дорога in here, and how can I tell?

Дорога is in the nominative case because it’s the subject of the sentence (the thing doing the “leading”). A typical pattern is:
[Subject in nominative] + [verb] + [prepositional phrase]
Here: Эта дорога (subject) ведёт (verb) к вокзалу (destination phrase).

Why does вокзал become вокзалу?

Because the preposition к (meaning toward / to) requires the dative case.

• Dictionary form: вокзал (nominative singular)
• After к: к вокзалу (dative singular)
  For many masculine nouns, dative singular often ends in -у / -ю.

Is к always followed by the dative case?

Yes, к is one of the common prepositions that consistently takes the dative when it means to / toward something:

• к дому (to the house)
• к другу (to a friend)
• к вокзалу (to the station)

What form of the verb is ведёт? How do I recognize it?

Ведёт is the 3rd person singular present tense form of вести́ (to lead).

• вести́ (infinitive)
• я веду́ (I lead)
• ты ведёшь (you lead)
• он/она́/оно́ ведёт (he/she/it leads)
  It’s singular because the subject дорога is singular.

Why is there ё in ведёт? I often see it written as ведет.

In Russian, ё is frequently written as е in everyday text, so you may see ведёт spelled as ведет. They represent the same word, but the pronunciation is different:

• ведёт is pronounced with yo: ve-DYOT
  A helpful rule: ё is always stressed.

Where is the stress in this sentence?

Common stresses are:

• Э́та доро́га ведёт к вокза́лу.
  Stresses matter a lot in Russian pronunciation, and ё automatically marks a stressed syllable in ведёт.

Does Russian require the word is/am/are here like English does?

No. Russian usually does not use a present-tense “to be” (есть) in ordinary sentences. Here you just say:

• Эта дорога ведёт к вокзалу.
  You don’t need anything like This road is leading… The verb ведёт already does the job.

Can I change the word order, or is it fixed?

Word order is fairly flexible in Russian because the cases show grammatical roles. The neutral order is exactly what you see:

• Эта дорога ведёт к вокзалу.
  But you could also say, depending on emphasis:
• К вокзалу ведёт эта дорога. (emphasizes the destination)
• Эта дорога к вокзалу ведёт. (can sound more emphatic/colloquial)

What’s the difference between к вокзалу and на вокзал?

They’re both possible in different contexts:

• к вокзалу = toward / up to / in the direction of the station (often focusing on reaching the area/entrance)
• на вокзал = to the station as a destination (often “to the station” as a place you go to, like “to the station” in English)
  With ведёт (leads), к is especially natural: the road leads toward/to a point.

Is вести perfective or imperfective? Does aspect matter here?

вести́ is imperfective. In this sentence, the present tense describes a general, timeless fact: the road (in general) leads to the station. That’s a typical use of the imperfective present.

Why is there no article like a/the in Russian?

Russian has no articles, so эта helps provide specificity:

• дорога alone could mean a road / the road depending on context
• эта дорога clearly means this road (pointing out a specific one)