Questions & Answers about Я закрываю дверь.
The lesson is about the accusative case. Why doesn't the word дверь change its ending here?
Дверь (door) is the direct object receiving the action, so it is in the accusative case. You have learned that feminine nouns usually change their ending in this case. However, дверь is a special type of feminine noun that ends in a soft sign (-ь). For inanimate nouns ending in a soft sign, the accusative form is exactly the same as their dictionary form.
Does закрываю mean "I close" or "I am closing"?
It translates to both! Russian does not have a separate continuous tense like English does. Depending on the context, Я закрываю дверь can mean "I am closing the door" right now, or "I close the door" as a general habit.
Why does the verb закрываю end in -ю?
Because the subject is Я (I). The dictionary form of the verb is закрывать (to close). To make it match Я in the present tense, we drop the -ть ending and add -ю.
Since дверь ends in a soft sign (-ь), how do I know what gender it is?
Nouns ending in a soft sign can be either masculine or feminine, so you just have to memorize their gender when you learn them. Дверь is feminine. Even though its ending doesn't change here in the accusative case, knowing it is feminine will be important when you want to describe it with adjectives later.
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