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?
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)
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