Моя жена сама приготовила ужин.

my

Breakdown of Моя жена сама приготовила ужин.

• ужин: the dinner
• жена: the wife
• сама: myself

Questions & Answers about Моя жена сама приготовила ужин.

Why is it моя жена, not мой жена?

Because моя has to agree with жена in gender, number, and case.

• жена is feminine
• singular
• nominative here, because it is the subject

So the correct form is моя.

Compare:

• мой муж = my husband
• моя жена = my wife
• моё письмо = my letter
• мои друзья = my friends

Why is жена in the nominative case?

Because жена is the subject of the sentence — the person doing the action.

In Моя жена сама приготовила ужин, the wife is the one who prepared the dinner, so жена stays in the nominative.

A very common rule in Russian is:

• subject → usually nominative
• direct object → often accusative

So here:

• моя жена = subject
• ужин = direct object

What exactly does сама mean here?