Breakdown of Большой собаке нужен намордник, если мы едем с ней в метро.
большой
big
собака
the dog
с
with
в
in
Questions & Answers about Большой собаке нужен намордник, если мы едем с ней в метро.
Why is собаке in the dative case?
Because Russian uses the pattern кому? нужен что? for someone needs something.
So in:
Большой собаке нужен намордник
the dog is not the grammatical subject in the same way it would be in English. Literally, the structure is closer to:
- To the big dog, a muzzle is needed
That is why собака becomes собаке: it is in the dative singular.
Why is it нужен, not нужно or нужна?
Нужен agrees with the thing that is needed, not with the person or animal who needs it.
Here, the thing needed is намордник (muzzle), and намордник is:
- masculine
- singular
So the correct form is нужен.
Compare:
- Собаке нужен намордник. = The dog needs a muzzle.
- Собаке нужна вода. = The dog needs water.
- Собаке нужно место. = The dog needs space.
- Собаке нужны лекарства. = The dog needs medicines.
Why is большой ending in -ой here?