Ветеринар оглянув лапу.

the veterinarian

Breakdown of Ветеринар оглянув лапу.

• лапа: the paw
• оглянути: to examine; inspect

Questions & Answers about Ветеринар оглянув лапу.

Why is лапу ending in -у instead of лапа?

Because лапу is in the accusative singular, which is the case used for a direct object.

• Dictionary form: лапа = paw
• In this sentence, the paw is what the vet examined, so it becomes the direct object.

• For many feminine nouns ending in -а, the accusative singular ends in -у:

• лапа → лапу
• книга → книгу
• мама → маму

So Ветеринар оглянув лапу literally has:

• Ветеринар = subject
• оглянув = examined
• лапу = direct object

How do I know that ветеринар is the subject and лапу is the object?

Ukrainian shows this mainly through case endings, not just word order.

• ветеринар is in the nominative case, which is the normal case for the subject.
• лапу is in the accusative case, marking it as the direct object.

So even if the order changed, the endings would still help you understand who did what.

Why is оглянув in that form?