Breakdown of Чайник на кухне.
на
on, at / by (transport) / to (a place) / to (in answer to)
кухня
kitchen
чайник
kettle, teapot
Questions & Answers about Чайник на кухне.
Why is there no word for 'is' in this sentence?
In Russian, the present tense of the verb 'to be' is usually left out entirely. You simply say Чайник на кухне, which translates literally as 'Kettle on kitchen'.
Why do we use на instead of в to mean 'in the kitchen'?
While на generally means 'on' and в means 'in', certain places in Russian traditionally take на even when you are physically inside them. Кухня is a classic exception, so you will always use на кухне for 'in the kitchen'.
Why does the word for kitchen end in -е here?
The dictionary form of the word is кухня. Because we are talking about a location, we must use the prepositional case. For feminine nouns ending in -я, the ending changes to -е, giving us кухне.
How would I say 'in our kitchen' using the grammar from this lesson?
To say 'in our kitchen', you would add a possessive pronoun and say на нашей кухне. The feminine possessive pronoun наша (our) changes to нашей in the prepositional case to match the feminine noun кухне.
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