Портной записал мерки.

to write down

Breakdown of Портной записал мерки.

• портной: the tailor
• мерка: the body measurement

Questions & Answers about Портной записал мерки.

Why does портной look like an adjective rather than a noun?

Because it originally is an adjective-type form that is used as a noun. Russian has a number of words like this. Портной means tailor, but it declines like an adjective:

• nominative: портной
• genitive: портного
• dative: портному
• etc.

So even though it means a person and functions as a noun, its endings follow the adjective pattern.

What case is портной here?

It is in the nominative singular, because it is the subject of the sentence: the tailor is the one doing the action.

So in Портной записал мерки, the structure is:

• Портной = subject
• записал = verb
• мерки = direct object

Why is the verb записал and not just писал?