Breakdown of Наш репертуар пока небольшой, но в нём уже есть три старые песни.
Questions & Answers about Наш репертуар пока небольшой, но в нём уже есть три старые песни.
Why is there no word for is in Наш репертуар пока небольшой?
In Russian, the verb to be is usually omitted in the present tense when you are simply linking a subject with a description.
So:
- Наш репертуар пока небольшой
literally: Our repertoire for now small
This is normal Russian.
In the past or future, Russian does use forms of быть:
- Наш репертуар был небольшим — our repertoire was small
- Наш репертуар будет небольшим — our repertoire will be small
If Russian usually leaves out is/are, why does the second clause have есть?
Here есть does not work like the English copula is. It means something more like:
- there is / there are
- it contains
- it has
So:
- в нём уже есть три старые песни
= there are already three old songs in it
This is an existence/presence pattern, so есть is natural.
Compare:
- Репертуар небольшой — The repertoire is small.
No есть. - В репертуаре есть три песни — There are three songs in the repertoire.
Есть is needed.
What does пока mean here?
In this sentence, пока means for now, so far, or at the moment.
So Наш репертуар пока небольшой means:
- our repertoire is still small
- our repertoire is small for now
This use of пока often suggests the situation may change later.
It does not mean while here.
Why is it небольшой and not не большой?
Небольшой is a very common single-word adjective meaning:
- small
- not very big
- modest
Writing it as one word is the normal choice here.
- небольшой репертуар = a small/modest repertoire
Writing не большой separately is usually used for contrast or special emphasis, something like:
- не большой, а маленький — not big, but small
So in your sentence, небольшой is the natural form.
Why use небольшой instead of маленький?
Both can relate to small size, but they are not always equally natural.
- маленький often means little / small in size
- небольшой often means small, limited, modest in extent
With something abstract like репертуар, небольшой sounds more natural and idiomatic.
So:
- небольшой репертуар = a modest/small repertoire
- маленький репертуар is understandable, but less natural here
Why is it наш репертуар and небольшой? Why those endings?
Because репертуар is a masculine singular noun in the nominative case.
Russian words that describe or determine a noun have to agree with it in gender, number, and case.
So:
- наш — masculine singular nominative
- небольшой — masculine singular nominative
- репертуар — masculine singular nominative
That is why the forms match.
Why is it в нём?
Because the preposition в means in, and here it requires the prepositional case.
The pronoun referring back to репертуар is он.
After в, it becomes нём:
- он — he/it
- в нём — in him / in it
So:
- в нём = in it
Here it refers to репертуар.
A useful spelling note: in many texts, ё is often written as е, so you may also see в нем, but it is still pronounced в нём.
Why is it три песни and not три песен?
After the numerals 2, 3, 4, Russian normally uses the noun in the genitive singular.
The noun песня has:
- nominative singular: песня
- genitive singular: песни
- genitive plural: песен
So:
- три песни = correct
- три песен = incorrect
You would use песен after 5 and higher:
- пять песен — five songs
Why is it три старые песни and not три старых песни?
This is a very common learner question.
With feminine nouns after 2, 3, 4, the noun is still in the genitive singular:
- песни
But the adjective is commonly in the nominative plural:
- старые
So:
- три старые песни — three old songs
This is the normal standard pattern here.
A short way to remember it:
- numeral: три
- adjective: старые
- noun: песни
The noun form песни happens to look the same as nominative plural, but here it is functioning as genitive singular after три.
What does уже add to the sentence?
Уже means already.
It shows that even at this stage, something has been achieved or is already true.
So:
- в нём уже есть три старые песни
= there are already three old songs in it
Without уже, the sentence would just state a fact.
With уже, it suggests progress.
Can the word order be different?
Yes. Russian word order is fairly flexible, and changing it often changes emphasis, not the core meaning.
The sentence as given is neutral and natural:
- Наш репертуар пока небольшой, но в нём уже есть три старые песни.
Other orders are possible, for example:
- Но в нём уже есть три старые песни.
- Но уже в нём есть три старые песни.
- Но три старые песни в нём уже есть.
These versions sound more marked or put emphasis in different places.
For a learner, the original word order is the best neutral model to follow.
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