Маленький воробей сидел у порога.

to sit

Breakdown of Маленький воробей сидел у порога.

• у: by
• маленький: little
• воробей: the sparrow

Questions & Answers about Маленький воробей сидел у порога.

Why does маленький end in -ий here?

Because it is agreeing with воробей, which is:

• masculine
• singular
• nominative case

Russian adjectives change their endings to match the noun they describe. Here the basic agreement is:

• маленький воробей = masculine singular nominative

So маленький is the correct form for describing воробей as the subject of the sentence.

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What case is воробей, and how can I tell?

Воробей is in the nominative singular, because it is the subject of the sentence — the one doing the action of сидел.

In this sentence:

• воробей = the sparrow
• сидел = was sitting / sat

A good beginner rule is: the noun that is the subject is often in the nominative.

Also, воробей is the dictionary form of the noun.

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Why is the verb сидел and not some other form?