Если на столе пятно, лучше вытереть его тряпкой.

the table

Breakdown of Если на столе пятно, лучше вытереть его тряпкой.

• на: on
• если: if
• лучше: better

Questions & Answers about Если на столе пятно, лучше вытереть его тряпкой.

Why is it на столе and not на стол?

Because на столе expresses location: the stain is on the table.

With на:

• на + accusative usually means motion onto something
• на + prepositional usually means location on something

So:

• положить книгу на стол = put the book onto the table
• книга на столе = the book is on the table

Here we are describing where the stain is, so Russian uses the prepositional case: на столе.

Why is пятно in the nominative case?

Because пятно is the thing that exists/is located there: there is a stain on the table.

In Russian, expressions like на столе пятно literally work like on the table [is] a stain, where пятно is the subject, so it stays in the nominative.

Even though English uses there is, Russian often simply states the location first and then the noun:

• На столе книга = There is a book on the table
• На столе пятно = There is a stain on the table

Why is there no verb for is in Если на столе пятно?