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Моя подруга сделала три подтягивания на турнике, а потом ещё один подход.

Моя подруга сделала три подтягивания на турнике, а потом ещё один подход.
My female friend did three pull-ups on the bar and then one more set.
FromLesson 82inHardcore Russian

Questions & Answers about Моя подруга сделала три подтягивания на турнике, а потом ещё один подход.

Why is it моя подруга, not мой подруга?

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

  • подруга is a feminine singular noun
  • so the possessive my must also be feminine singular: моя

Compare:

  • мой друг = my male friend
  • моя подруга = my female friend

This agreement pattern is very important in Russian adjectives and pronouns.

Does подруга mean girlfriend?

Usually, подруга simply means female friend.

That is one of the classic traps for English speakers:

  • друг = male friend
  • подруга = female friend

A romantic girlfriend can sometimes also be called девушка, depending on context. So unless the context clearly suggests romance, моя подруга is normally understood as my female friend, not my girlfriend.

Why is the verb сделала?

Сделала is the past tense, feminine singular form of сделать.

Russian past tense agrees with the subject in gender and number:

  • он сделал = he did
  • она сделала = she did
  • они сделали = they did

Since подруга is feminine, the verb is сделала.

Why use сделала here? Isn’t that literally did/made?

Yes, literally it comes from сделать = to do / to make / to complete, but in Russian it is often used very naturally with actions like exercises, repetitions, or sets.

So:

  • сделать три подтягивания = to do three pull-ups
  • сделать подход = to do a set

This is very common Russian usage. English often uses more specific verbs, but Russian often uses делать / сделать with activity nouns.

Why is it три подтягивания and not три подтягивание?

Because after the numbers 2, 3, 4, Russian usually uses the genitive singular form of the noun.

So:

  • одно подтягивание = one pull-up
  • два подтягивания = two pull-ups
  • три подтягивания = three pull-ups
  • четыре подтягивания = four pull-ups

The base form is подтягивание, but after три it becomes подтягивания.

Why does подтягивания look plural if you say it is genitive singular?

Because for many neuter nouns in -ие, the genitive singular ending looks like -ия, which can seem confusing at first.

Here are the forms:

  • nominative singular: подтягивание
  • genitive singular: подтягивания
  • nominative plural: подтягивания

So in this sentence, подтягивания is genitive singular, even though it looks the same as nominative plural. The number три tells you what is going on grammatically.

What exactly is подтягивание?

Подтягивание is the noun meaning a pull-up.

It comes from the verb подтягиваться / подтянуться, meaning to pull oneself up. Russian often forms exercise names as nouns:

  • подтягивание = pull-up
  • отжимание = push-up

So три подтягивания literally means three pull-ups.

Why is it на турнике?

Because на is the normal preposition used with турник when you mean doing pull-ups on a horizontal bar.

  • турник = pull-up bar / horizontal bar
  • на турнике = on the bar

Here турнике is in the prepositional case, because it follows на in a location meaning.

Compare:

  • на столе = on the table
  • на турнике = on the bar
What does турник mean exactly?

Турник is a common Russian word for a horizontal bar used for exercises, especially pull-ups.

Depending on context, English translations could be:

  • pull-up bar
  • horizontal bar
  • sometimes just bar

It is a very common word in fitness and playground contexts in Russian.

What does ещё mean here?

Here ещё means another / one more / an additional.

So:

  • ещё один подход = one more set / another set

This is one of the common meanings of ещё. In other contexts it can also mean still or yet:

  • Он ещё спит. = He is still sleeping.
  • Хочешь ещё чаю? = Do you want more tea?

In your sentence, it clearly has the one more meaning.

What does подход mean in this sentence?

In workout language, подход means a set.

So:

  • сделать один подход = to do one set
  • три подхода = three sets

This is a very common gym/exercise term in Russian.

Is the second part missing a verb? Why does it say а потом ещё один подход?

Yes, the second part is using ellipsis: the verb is omitted because it is obvious from context.

The full version would be:

  • Моя подруга сделала три подтягивания на турнике, а потом сделала ещё один подход.

But Russian often leaves out repeated words when they are easy to understand. That makes the sentence more natural and less repetitive.

So the shortened version is perfectly normal.

Could you also say а потом сделала ещё один подход?

Yes, absolutely. In fact, that is the fully explicit version.

You can have:

  • ..., а потом ещё один подход.
  • ..., а потом сделала ещё один подход.

Both are natural. The shorter one is just more compact because the verb has already been mentioned.

Why is there а before потом?

А here links the two parts of the sentence and gives a mild contrast or transition: and then / while / but then, depending on context.

In this sentence, it is basically:

  • ..., and then ...

Russian often uses а where English might simply use and. It does not always mean a strong but.

So:

  • ..., а потом ... = ..., and then ...
Could и потом be used instead of а потом?

Yes, sometimes, but а потом is very natural here.

Very roughly:

  • и потом = and then
  • а потом = and then / and after that, often with a clearer shift to the next step

In a sequence of actions, а потом sounds very normal and idiomatic.

Why is один used in ещё один подход? Why not just ещё подход?

Because Russian usually includes the numeral when it means one more.

  • ещё один подход = one more set / another set

Without один, ещё подход would sound incomplete or unnatural in standard Russian.

What case is один подход in?

It is in the accusative case, because it is the direct object of the implied verb сделала.

However, since подход is an inanimate masculine noun, its accusative form is the same as the nominative:

  • nominative: один подход
  • accusative: один подход

So the form does not change, but grammatically it is accusative.

Why is the word order like this? Could the sentence be rearranged?

Yes, Russian word order is flexible.

The basic sentence is:

  • Моя подруга сделала три подтягивания на турнике, а потом ещё один подход.

But you could also say things like:

  • Моя подруга на турнике сделала три подтягивания, а потом ещё один подход.
  • Три подтягивания на турнике моя подруга сделала, а потом ещё один подход.

These alternatives shift emphasis a bit, but the original order is neutral and natural.

Why isn’t there a separate verb meaning to do pull-ups?

Russian can express this either with a specific verb or with делать / сделать plus a noun.

For example:

  • сделать три подтягивания = do three pull-ups
  • подтянуться три раза = do three pull-ups / pull oneself up three times

Both are possible. The sentence you have uses the noun-based pattern, which is very common in exercise language.

Could this sentence also be said with раза instead of подтягивания?

Yes, but the structure would be different.

For example:

  • Моя подруга подтянулась три раза... = My friend did three pull-ups / pulled herself up three times

Here you use a verb plus три раза = three times.

Your original sentence uses:

  • сделала три подтягивания = did three pull-ups

Both are natural. The difference is mainly grammatical structure, not basic meaning.

What aspect is сделала, and why?

Сделала is perfective.

Russian aspect matters a lot:

  • делала = was doing / did habitually / did for some time
  • сделала = did, completed, accomplished

Here the speaker is describing completed results:

  • she completed three pull-ups
  • then completed another set

So the perfective сделала fits very well.

Why is there a comma before а потом?

Because а is a coordinating conjunction linking two clauses or clause-like parts, and Russian normally puts a comma before it.

So:

  • ..., а потом ...

Even though the second part leaves out the repeated verb, it still functions as a second coordinated part of the sentence, so the comma is standard.

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