Questions & Answers about Я вижу ресторан и официанта.
Why does ресторан stay the same, but официант changes to официанта if they are both masculine direct objects?
This is the rule for animate versus inanimate nouns! When a masculine noun is the direct object (in the accusative case), inanimate things like a restaurant (ресторан) keep their dictionary form. But living things like a waiter take an -а or -я ending. So официант becomes официанта.
Doesn't an -а ending mean a word is feminine?
Usually yes, if you are looking at the basic dictionary form. However, case endings change how words look. When a masculine animate noun is the direct object, it gets an -а ending. So официанта is still a masculine word, it just happens to have the accusative masculine animate ending here.
Where does the ж in вижу come from? The dictionary form is видеть.
The verb видеть (to see) has a stem change in the 'I' form. The д changes to a ж, and it takes a -у ending for я (I). The other forms keep the д, like ты видишь (you see).
Does the word и (and) change the grammar of the nouns?
No, и simply links the two nouns together. Because both the restaurant and the waiter are things you see, they are both direct objects of the verb вижу. They both go into the accusative case, but their endings follow their own animate/inanimate rules independently.
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