Breakdown of Опытный мастер быстро починил старый стул.
стул
the chair
быстро
quickly
старый
old
починить
to repair
Questions & Answers about Опытный мастер быстро починил старый стул.
Why does починил end in -л?
Because починил is a past tense verb in Russian.
The infinitive is починить = to repair / to fix.
In the past tense, Russian often adds -л to the stem:
- починил = he repaired
- починила = she repaired
- починило = it repaired
- починили = they repaired
So починил tells you that the subject is masculine singular.
Why is it починил, not чинил?
This is a question of aspect, which is very important in Russian.
- чинить = to be repairing / to repair (imperfective)
- починить = to repair successfully / to fix (perfective)
So:
- Он чинил стул = He was repairing the chair / He repaired the chair (focus on the process, or just the action in a general sense)
- Он починил стул = He repaired the chair / He fixed the chair (focus on the completed result)
In your sentence, починил shows that the repair was completed.