Breakdown of Она смотрит на меня и улыбается.
и
and
она
she / it (for a feminine noun)
я
I
на
on, at / by (transport) / to (a place) / to (in answer to)
смотреть
to watch / to look at / make sure (in a warning)
улыбаться
to smile
Questions & Answers about Она смотрит на меня и улыбается.
Why does улыбается end in -ся? Does she smile "at herself"?
Not exactly! While -ся is the reflexive ending (which often means doing an action to "oneself"), some Russian verbs just always have this ending by nature. Улыбаться (to smile) is one of them. To make the "she" form, you take the base conjugation улыбает and attach -ся.
How should I pronounce the -тся at the end of улыбается?
Even though it is spelled with -тся, it is pronounced like -ца (tsa). This is a strict pronunciation rule in Russian for any verb ending in -тся (like she/he/it forms) or -ться (infinitive forms).
Why do we need the word на before меня?
In English we look "at" someone, and in Russian the verb смотреть pairs with the preposition на (onto/at) to mean the exact same thing. After на, we must use the accusative case. Меня is the accusative form of я (I).
The dictionary form of "to look" is смотреть. Why does it conjugate with an "и" (смотрит) instead of an "е"?
Usually, Russian verbs ending in -еть belong to the first conjugation group and take -е- endings. However, смотреть is a famous exception. It is treated as a second conjugation verb, which is why it takes the -и- ending to become смотрит.
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