Questions & Answers about Я мою машину.
Why is the word for car spelled as машину instead of машина?
In this sentence, the car is the direct object (the thing receiving the action of being washed), so it must take the accusative case. For feminine nouns ending in -а like машина, the ending changes to -у to become машину. Remember that while masculine inanimate objects do not change their endings in the accusative case, feminine inanimate objects always do!
Wait, doesn't мою mean 'my'? Where is the verb in this sentence?
This is a very tricky coincidence! The word мою can indeed mean 'my' (specifically the feminine accusative form). However, in this sentence, мою is actually the verb. It is the 'I' form of the verb мыть (to wash). You can tell it is a verb here because the sentence needs an action, and saying 'I my car' would not make sense.
Does this sentence mean 'I wash the car' or 'I am washing the car'?
It translates to both! Russian does not have a separate continuous tense like English does. The single present tense verb мою covers both general routines (I wash) and actions happening right now (I am washing). You figure out which one is meant from the context of the conversation.
Can I drop the word Я and just say Мою машину?
Yes, you can! Because the verb form мою specifically tells us that 'I' am the one doing the washing, the subject pronoun Я is not strictly required. Dropping the pronoun is very common in conversational Russian, though keeping it like in this sentence is also perfectly natural.
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