Breakdown of Книга скучная, поэтому мы читаем новый журнал.
книга
book
мы
we
журнал
magazine
новый
new
читать
to read
скучный
boring
поэтому
so (therefore)
Questions & Answers about Книга скучная, поэтому мы читаем новый журнал.
Why do we use поэтому here instead of потому что?
Both words connect causes and results, but they go in different directions. Потому что means "because" and gives the reason. Поэтому means "so" or "that's why" and gives the result. Here, the book being boring is the reason, and reading the magazine is the result, so we use поэтому.
Where is the word for "is" in the first part of the sentence?
In Russian, the present tense of the verb "to be" is almost always left out. You just put the subject (книга) right next to its adjective (скучная) to say "the book is boring."
Why are the adjectives скучная and новый spelled with different endings?
Adjectives must match the gender of the noun they describe. Книга is a feminine noun, so it takes the feminine adjective ending -ая (скучная). Журнал is a masculine noun, so it takes the masculine ending -ый (новый).
Since we are reading the magazine, shouldn't новый журнал be in the accusative (object) case? Why does it look like the dictionary form?
It actually is in the accusative case! For masculine nouns that are inanimate (non-living things like a magazine), the accusative case looks exactly the same as the nominative (dictionary) form. Both the noun (журнал) and its adjective (новый) stay the same.
Learn Книга скучная, поэтому мы читаем новый журнал and more in Russian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free