Дети сидят на бревне у воды.

to sit

Breakdown of Дети сидят на бревне у воды.

• вода: the water
• на: on
• у: by

Questions & Answers about Дети сидят на бревне у воды.

Why is дети used here? What singular noun does it come from?

Дети means children. Its singular is ребёнок (child).

This is an irregular plural, so you cannot predict it from the singular in the usual way. A learner often expects something more regular, but ребёнок → дети is just a form you need to memorize.

A useful pair to remember is:

• ребёнок = child
• дети = children

Why is the verb сидят in that form?

Сидят is the 3rd person plural present-tense form of сидеть (to sit / to be sitting).

It is plural because the subject is дети (children), which is plural.

So:

• ребёнок сидит = the child is sitting
• дети сидят = the children are sitting

Russian verbs must agree with the subject in number, so дети requires сидят, not сидит.

What is the difference between сидеть and сесть?