Дверная петля скрипит, когда я открываю шкаф.

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Breakdown of Дверная петля скрипит, когда я открываю шкаф.

• когда: when
• открывать: to open
• шкаф: the wardrobe

Questions & Answers about Дверная петля скрипит, когда я открываю шкаф.

Why is дверная feminine, and what is it describing?

Дверная describes петля, not шкаф.

• петля is a feminine noun
• Russian adjectives must agree with the noun they modify in gender, number, and case
• so you get дверная петля, not дверной петля or дверное петля

Here, дверная is the feminine singular nominative form of the adjective.

Why does Russian say дверная петля instead of something like петля двери?

Both patterns are possible in Russian, but they are used a little differently.

• дверная петля = a door hinge, the type or function of the object
• петля двери = the hinge of a specific door

The adjective pattern is very common in Russian for naming things by function or category. So дверная петля sounds natural as a standard term.

What case is дверная петля in?

It is in the nominative case because it is the subject of the sentence: it is the thing that скрипит.

You can tell from the forms:

• дверная = feminine singular nominative adjective
• петля = feminine singular nominative noun