Word
На ужин к нам пришла соседка, и мама сразу заметила её новые серёжки и браслет.
Meaning
Our female neighbor came to dinner, and Mom immediately noticed her new earrings and bracelet.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of На ужин к нам пришла соседка, и мама сразу заметила её новые серёжки и браслет.
на
to
новый
new
и
and
к
to
Questions & Answers about На ужин к нам пришла соседка, и мама сразу заметила её новые серёжки и браслет.
Why is the sentence ordered as На ужин к нам пришла соседка instead of Соседка пришла к нам на ужин?
Russian word order is much freer than English word order. Both versions are possible, but they put the focus in different places.
- На ужин к нам пришла соседка starts with the setting: for dinner / to our place, and then introduces the person who came: the neighbor.
- Соседка пришла к нам на ужин is more neutral if you simply want to say The neighbor came to our place for dinner.
In the original sentence, the speaker is likely setting the scene first and leaving соседка as the new or important information at the end of that clause.
What does на ужин mean here, and why is it на + accusative?
На ужин means for dinner or to dinner.
Russian often uses на + accusative with events, meals, and activities to mean to/for that event:
- на ужин — for dinner / to dinner
- на завтрак — for breakfast
- на обед — for lunch
- на концерт — to a concert
So На ужин к нам пришла соседка is literally something like For dinner, the neighbor came to our place.
Why does Russian say к нам here? Why not just нам?