Breakdown of Мой брат читает очень медленно и тихо.
и
and
брат
brother
мой
my (мой, моя, моё) / mine
очень
very
читать
to read
медленно
slowly
тихо
quietly
Questions & Answers about Мой брат читает очень медленно и тихо.
Why do медленно and тихо end in -о?
In Russian, most adverbs of manner (words that describe how an action is done) are formed by taking an adjective and changing its ending to -о. For example, the adjective медленный (slow) becomes the adverb медленно (slowly), and тихий (quiet) becomes тихо (quietly). Unlike adjectives, adverbs never change to match gender or number!
Does очень apply to both медленно and тихо in this sentence?
Grammatically, the adverb of degree очень (very) modifies the word immediately after it, which is медленно (slowly). However, just like in English, the context implies he is doing both things to a high degree. If you wanted to be absolutely clear that his reading is also very quiet, you could repeat the word: очень медленно и очень тихо.
Why does the verb читает end in -ет?
This is a quick review of verb conjugation! The dictionary form of the verb is читать (to read). Because the subject of our sentence is мой брат (my brother), which is a "he" (он), we drop the -ть and add the "he/she/it" ending, which is -ет.
Could I put the adverbs before the verb, like "Мой брат очень медленно читает"?
Yes, you can! Russian word order is very flexible. Placing the adverbs after the verb (читает очень медленно...) is the most neutral and common way to emphasize how the action is happening. Putting them before the verb is also completely correct and keeps the same meaning.
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