Если почва слишком сухая, орхидея начинает вянуть.

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Breakdown of Если почва слишком сухая, орхидея начинает вянуть.

• слишком: too
• начинать: to start
• сухой: dry

Questions & Answers about Если почва слишком сухая, орхидея начинает вянуть.

Why is there a comma after сухая?

In Russian, a clause introduced by если (if) is normally separated by a comma from the main clause.

So:

Если почва слишком сухая, орхидея начинает вянуть.

literally has the structure:

If the soil is too dry, the orchid begins to wilt.

The comma is required here, even though in English punctuation may feel less strict to learners.

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Why does сухая end in -ая?

Because сухая is an adjective agreeing with почва.

• почва = soil
• сухая = dry

In Russian, adjectives must agree with the noun they describe in:

• gender
• number
• case

Here, почва is:

• feminine
• singular
• nominative

So the adjective also has to be feminine singular nominative:

• masculine: сухой
• feminine: сухая
• neuter: сухое
• plural: сухие

That is why you get сухая почва.

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What case is , and why?