Questions & Answers about Ты помнишь песню?
Why is the word for song spelled песню instead of песня?
Песню is the direct object of the verb помнишь (the thing you remember). Because it receives the action, it takes the accusative case. For feminine words ending in -я like песня, the ending changes to -ю in the accusative case.
Since the lesson is about INANIMATE objects, does that affect how песня changes here?
Actually, no! For feminine nouns ending in -а or -я, the ending always changes in the accusative case (-а to -у, and -я to -ю), whether the object is a lifeless thing or a living person. The animate/inanimate rule you are learning only changes how masculine and plural nouns behave.
Why does the verb помнишь end in -ишь?
This ending matches the subject ты (you, informal). The dictionary form of the verb is помнить (to remember). Because it ends in -ить, it belongs to the second conjugation group, which uses the -ишь ending for the ты form.
Where is the word for "Do" in this question?
Russian does not use helping verbs like "do" or "does" to form questions. You just build a normal sentence (Ты помнишь песню can also mean "You remember the song") and add a question mark. When speaking, you simply raise your pitch to show it is a question.
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