Breakdown of Занятие начинается утром.
утром
in the morning
начинаться
to begin (of an event)
занятие
class, activity
Questions & Answers about Занятие начинается утром.
This lesson is about the Instrumental case. Is it being used in this sentence?
Yes! The word утром is the Instrumental case form of утро (morning). While you are learning to use the Instrumental case with с (with) for accompaniment, Russian also uses this case all by itself to talk about times of day. Putting утро into the Instrumental case turns it into "in the morning".
Why is there no preposition like "в" (in) before утром?
English requires "in the" to say "in the morning", but Russian grammar handles this with noun cases. By simply changing утро to its Instrumental form утром, it automatically means "in the morning". Adding a preposition here would actually be incorrect.
Why does the verb начинается end in -ся?
That ending makes it a reflexive verb. The regular verb начинать means "to start something" (like a teacher starting a lesson). Because the class isn't starting an object, but rather just "starting itself", we add -ся.
Why does занятие end in -е? Is it plural?
No, it is a singular neuter noun. Nouns ending in -о or -е in the dictionary form are usually neuter. It is in the Nominative case here because it is the main subject of the sentence. If it were plural, it would be занятия.
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