Questions & Answers about Я взял книгу со стола.
Why is взял used here, and what form is it?
Взял is the past tense masculine singular form of the verb взять (to take, perfective).
So in Я взял книгу со стола, the speaker is understood to be male.
If the speaker were female, it would be Я взяла книгу со стола.
A quick breakdown:
- взять = infinitive
- взял = he/I (male) took
- взяла = she/I (female) took
- взяли = they/we/you took
Russian past tense agrees in gender and number, not person.
Why is книга changed to книгу?
Because книгу is in the accusative case, which is used here for the direct object of the verb взял.
The thing being taken is the book, so книга changes form:
- nominative: книга = a book / the book
- accusative: книгу = a book / the book (as the object)
For many feminine nouns ending in -а, the accusative singular changes -а to -у:
- книга → книгу
- машина → машину
- мама → маму
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