Breakdown of Цыплёнок ел зерно так быстро, что дочка начала смеяться.
Questions & Answers about Цыплёнок ел зерно так быстро, что дочка начала смеяться.
Цыплёнок means chick or baby chicken, while курица usually means hen/chicken. So the sentence specifically talks about a small chicken, not an adult one.
Also, цыплёнок is a masculine noun, which is why the verb is ел and not ела.
Ел is the masculine singular past tense form of есть (to eat).
It matches цыплёнок, which is:
- masculine
- singular
In Russian past tense, the verb agrees with the subject in gender and number:
- он ел = he was eating / ate
- она ела = she was eating / ate
- оно ело = it was eating / ate
- они ели = they were eating / ate
So цыплёнок ел = the chick was eating / ate.