Question 1

I learned that "one" is один. Why does this sentence use первом instead?

Accepted Answer

Один is a cardinal number used for counting (one, two, three). Here, we need the ordinal number "first" (первый). In Russian, ordinal numbers behave exactly like adjectives. Because we are talking about location here, первый changes its ending to первом to match the noun it describes.

Question 2

Why is there no word for "is" in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

In Russian, the verb "to be" is almost always skipped in the present tense. Instead of saying "Our flat is on the first floor," you simply say "Our flat on the first floor." This is a very common pattern you will see everywhere.

Question 3

Why does the sentence start with Наша instead of Наш?

Accepted Answer

Possessive words like "our" must match the gender of the noun they describe. The word for flat, квартира, ends in -а, which makes it a feminine noun. Therefore, we must use the feminine form Наша instead of the masculine form Наш.

Question 4

Why do the words первом and этаже have those specific endings?

Accepted Answer

When talking about the location where something is (using the preposition на, meaning "on"), Russian uses the Prepositional case. The masculine noun этаж (floor) adds an -е to become этаже, and its matching adjective changes to первом.

Question 5

Does первый этаж mean the ground floor or the floor above it?

Accepted Answer

In Russia, первый этаж (literally "first floor") refers to the ground floor at street level, just like in American English. If you are used to British English where the "first floor" is upstairs, remember that the floor above ground level in Russia is the second floor (второй этаж).

Наша квартира на первом этаже.

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