На катушке мало ниток.

few

Breakdown of На катушке мало ниток.

• на: on/for
• нитка: the thread
• катушка: the spool

Questions & Answers about На катушке мало ниток.

Why is there no word for is in this sentence?

In Russian, the present tense of to be is usually omitted.

So На катушке мало ниток literally looks like:

• На катушке = on the spool
• мало = little / few / not much
• ниток = thread(s), in the genitive plural

Russian does not normally say a separate word for is here.
If you wanted the past or future, you would use a form of to be:

• На катушке было мало ниток. = There was little thread on the spool.
• На катушке будет мало ниток. = There will be little thread on the spool.

Why is it на катушке and not на катушка?

Because after на meaning location, Russian uses the prepositional case.

The base form is катушка.
In the prepositional singular, it becomes катушке:

• катушка → на катушке

So на катушке means on the spool or on the bobbin/spool.

Compare:

• на столе = on the table
• на полке = on the shelf
• на катушке = on the spool

Why does Russian use на here?