Breakdown of Свинья любит есть рано утром, а петух будит всю ферму очень рано.
есть
to eat
рано
early
утро
the morning
очень
very
Questions & Answers about Свинья любит есть рано утром, а петух будит всю ферму очень рано.
Why is свинья spelled with -ья, and what gender is it?
Свинья means pig and it is feminine in Russian. Many feminine nouns end in -а or -я, and свинья is one of them.
Its nominative singular form is свинья. In this sentence it is the subject of the first clause, so it stays in the nominative:
- Свинья любит есть... = The pig likes to eat...
The -ья spelling is just part of the noun’s normal form. It is not unusual in Russian, though it may look a little strange at first to English speakers.
Why do we say любит есть? Why are there two verbs together?
This is very common in Russian. After verbs like любить (to love / like), Russian normally uses an infinitive to say what someone likes doing.
So:
- любит = likes
- есть = to eat
Together:
- любит есть = likes to eat
This is similar to English:
- The pig likes to eat early in the morning.
Russian does not need anything extra like to before the infinitive, because the infinitive form itself already shows that meaning.
Does есть here mean or ?