Breakdown of Мой брат работает в институте.
брат
brother
мой
my (мой, моя, моё) / mine
работать
to work
в
in / to (direction)
институт
institute
Questions & Answers about Мой брат работает в институте.
Why does the word for institute end in -е (институте)?
Because it is telling us where the action happens. In Russian, when you talk about a location using в (in) or на (on), the noun changes to the Prepositional case. For most masculine words ending in a consonant like институт, you just add an -е to the end.
I thought в meant "in", but the English translation says "at". Why?
Prepositions do not always translate perfectly one-to-one! In Russian, в usually means being inside an enclosed space or institution. While English speakers naturally say they work "at" an institute or hospital, Russian uses в to show someone is working inside that organization.
How do we get работает from the dictionary word работать?
Работать is the infinitive (the base dictionary form). Because the subject is Мой брат (my brother, which is a "he"), we change the verb's ending to match. For many verbs ending in -ать, you drop the -ть and add -ет for "he", "she", or "it".
Why is the first word Мой and not Моя?
Possessive words like "my" have to match the gender of the noun they describe. Брат (brother) is a masculine noun, so you must use the masculine form Мой. If you were talking about a sister (сестра, which is feminine), you would use Моя.
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