Breakdown of В манеже лежат мяч, книга и ходунки, которые подарила бабушка.
книга
the book
в
in
и
and
лежать
to lie
Questions & Answers about В манеже лежат мяч, книга и ходунки, которые подарила бабушка.
Why is it в манеже, not в манеж?
Because в can take two different cases:
- в + prepositional = location, where?
- в + accusative = direction, into where?
Here the meaning is location: the things are already in the playpen, so Russian uses the prepositional case:
- в манеже = in the playpen
- в манеж = into the playpen
So манеже is the prepositional singular form of манеж.
Why is the verb лежат plural?
Because the subject is a list of three things:
- мяч
- книга
- ходунки
Together they form a plural subject, so the verb is plural:
- лежат = are lying
Russian often puts the verb before the subject in sentences that introduce what is present somewhere, so the order may feel unusual to an English speaker, but the agreement is still normal.
Why are мяч, книга и ходунки in the nominative case even though they come after the verb?