Breakdown of Ателье может удлинить пальто.
мочь
to be able to
пальто
the coat
ателье
the tailor's shop
удлинить
to lengthen
Questions & Answers about Ателье может удлинить пальто.
Why is ателье used here, and what kind of place does it mean?
In this sentence, ателье usually means a tailor’s shop, alterations shop, or atelier—a place where clothes are made or altered.
So here it refers to a business that can do clothing work, such as making a coat longer.
Why does ателье not change its ending?
Ателье is an indeclinable noun in Russian. That means it keeps the same form in all cases.
Examples:
- Это ателье
- В ателье
- Из ателье
Many borrowed words in Russian behave this way, especially words ending in -е, -о, -и, or -у.
What gender is ателье, and how does that affect может?
Ателье is usually treated as neuter singular.
That is why the verb is может, the 3rd person singular form of мочь (to be able to / can).
So the structure is:
- ателье = singular subject
- может = can
- удлинить = infinitive