Breakdown of Мой брат читает статью.
брат
brother
мой
my (мой, моя, моё) / mine
читать
to read
статья
article
Questions & Answers about Мой брат читает статью.
Why is the word for article spelled статью instead of статья here?
Because it is the direct object of the sentence—the thing being read. This means it needs to be in the accusative case. The dictionary form is статья (a feminine noun ending in -я). To make it accusative, the -я ending changes to -ю.
How do we know if читает means 'reads' or 'is reading'?
Russian doesn't have a separate continuous tense like English does. The single word читает covers both 'reads' (in general) and 'is reading' (right now). You just tell which one it is from the context of the conversation!
Why do we use Мой for 'my' instead of Моя?
Words like 'my' have to match the gender of the noun they describe. Since брат (brother) is a masculine word, we use the masculine form Мой. If you were talking about a sister (сестра), you would use the feminine form Моя.
There is no word for 'an' in the Russian sentence. How does that work?
Russian does not have little words like 'a', 'an', or 'the'. The word статью can mean 'an article' or 'the article'. You usually just figure out which one is meant based on the situation.
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