Word
Мама переворачивает котлеты лопаткой на сковороде.
Meaning
Mom flips the cutlets with a spatula in the frying pan.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Мама переворачивает котлеты лопаткой на сковороде.
на
in
мама
the mother
сковорода
the frying pan
котлета
the cutlet
Questions & Answers about Мама переворачивает котлеты лопаткой на сковороде.
Why is переворачивает used here, and what form is it?
Переворачивает is the 3rd person singular present-tense form of the verb переворачивать, which is imperfective.
It agrees with мама (mom), which is a singular subject, so she turns / is turning.
Breakdown:
- переворачивать = to turn over, to flip repeatedly / as a process
- переворачивает = she turns / she is turning over
Russian present tense can often translate as either:
- turns
- is turning
depending on context.
Why is the verb imperfective instead of perfective?
Russian uses the imperfective here because the sentence describes an ongoing action or a general scene in progress: Mom is in the middle of flipping the cutlets.
The imperfective verb is:
- переворачивать → ongoing, repeated, process-focused
Its perfective partner is usually:
- перевернуть → to flip/turn over once, as a completed action
So:
- Мама переворачивает котлеты... = Mom is flipping the cutlets...
- Мама перевернёт котлеты... = Mom will flip the cutlets / finish flipping them
Why is котлеты in this form?