Breakdown of Он говорит громко, и музыка громкая.
и
and
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
музыка
music
говорить
to speak, to talk
громко
loudly
громкий
loud
Questions & Answers about Он говорит громко, и музыка громкая.
Why is "loudly" громко but "loud" is громкая?
This sentence perfectly shows the difference between an adverb and an adjective! Громко is an adverb describing the verb (it tells us how he speaks), and it ends in -о, just like хорошо (well) and плохо (badly). Громкая, on the other hand, is an adjective describing the noun музыка (music). Because музыка is a feminine noun, the adjective takes the feminine ending -ая.
Can I turn other adjectives into adverbs by using -о like in громко?
Yes! Most Russian adverbs of manner (words that describe how an action is done) are formed by taking the basic adjective, dropping its ending, and adding -о. For example, the adjective for "quick" is быстрый, and the adverb for "quickly" is быстро.
If I wanted to ask "How does he speak?", how would I use как here?
You would ask: Как он говорит? (How does he speak?). The word как is the exact question word you use to prompt an adverb of manner. The answer to this question is the adverb from our sentence: Он говорит громко (He speaks loudly).
Why doesn't the verb говорит (speaks) have a masculine ending to match он (he)?
In the present tense, Russian verbs change their endings based on the person doing the action (I, you, he/she/it, we, they), not their gender. The ending -ит in говорит is the standard present tense ending for "he", "she", or "it". Verbs only change to match masculine or feminine gender in the past tense.
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