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Questions & Answers about Ложка лежить поруч з чашкою.
What is the grammatical function and meaning of лежить?
лежить is the third person singular present indicative form of the verb лежати (“to lie” in the sense of “to be in a horizontal position”). In this sentence it means “(it) lies,” referring to the spoon.
What part of speech is поруч, and why do we add з before чашкою?
поруч is an adverb meaning “near” or “beside.” It does not take a direct object, so to specify what it’s near we use the preposition з (“with”) plus the instrumental case. Hence поруч з чашкою = “next to the cup.”
Why is чашкою in the instrumental case, and how do you form it from чашка?
The preposition з requires the instrumental case to indicate accompaniment or proximity. To form the singular instrumental of чашка, you replace the ending -а with -ою, giving чашкою.
How do you decline ложка in singular nominative, genitive, and instrumental?
Here are the key singular forms of ложка (“spoon”):
- Nominative (subject): ложка
- Genitive (possession or after certain prepositions): ложки
- Instrumental (after з, indicating “with/next to”): ложкою
When do you use з versus зі as the preposition “with”?
Both з and зі mean “with” and take the instrumental case. Зі is used before words beginning with two or more consonant sounds (for euphony), for example зі мною (“with me”) or зі школи (“from school”). Since чашкою begins with a single consonant sound [ч], we use the short form з чашкою.
Can we change the word order to Поруч з чашкою лежить ложка, and if so, what changes?
Yes. Поруч з чашкою лежить ложка has the same basic meaning, but placing поруч з чашкою at the beginning shifts the emphasis onto the location (“It is next to the cup that the spoon lies”) rather than starting with the subject.
Where is the stress in ложка, чашкою, and лежить, and how are they pronounced?
- ложка [ˈlɔʒ.kɑ] (stress on the first syllable)
- чашкою [ˈtʃaʃ.kɔ.ju] (stress on the first syllable)
- лежить [lɛˈʒɪtʲ] (stress on the second syllable)
What is the difference between поруч з чашкою + instrumental and біля чашки + genitive?
Both expressions mean “next to the cup.”
- поруч з чашкою uses an adverb (поруч) + з
- instrumental, and is slightly more formal or literary.
- біля чашки uses the preposition біля
- genitive (“чашки”) and is more common in everyday speech.