Breakdown of На полке стоят пшено и перловка, но дети почему-то выбирают макароны.
стоять
to stand
и
and
на
on
но
but
Questions & Answers about На полке стоят пшено и перловка, но дети почему-то выбирают макароны.
Why is стоят plural if пшено and перловка are each singular words?
Because together they form a compound subject: пшено и перловка = millet and pearl barley.
In Russian, when two things are joined by и (and), the verb is normally plural:
- Пшено и перловка стоят... = Millet and pearl barley are standing...
- Compare: Пшено стоит... = The millet is standing...
- Перловка стоит... = The pearl barley is standing...
So стоят is plural because the sentence is talking about two items together.
Why does Russian use стоят here? Food does not literally stand in English.
Russian often uses position verbs where English simply says is/are.
Common ones are:
- стоять = to stand
- лежать = to lie
- висеть = to hang
So На полке стоят... literally means On the shelf, ... are standing.
This sounds natural in Russian if the items are thought of as being in packages, jars, containers, or just placed upright on a shelf. English usually avoids this and simply says There is/There are ... on the shelf.
Russian is often more physically specific than English in this kind of sentence.
Could you also say На полке есть пшено и перловка?