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Questions & Answers about Я вижу продавца.
Why does the word for shop assistant change from продавец to продавца?
In this sentence, the shop assistant is the direct object (the person being seen), so we put the word into the accusative case. For masculine nouns that represent living things (animate nouns), the accusative ending is usually -а or -я.
If we just add -а, shouldn't it be spelled продавеца? Where did the е go?
The е in продавец is what we call a "fleeting vowel." In many Russian words, the last vowel of the root drops out when you add a grammatical ending. This makes the word flow better when spoken, so the е disappears, giving us продавца.
The dictionary form for "to see" is видеть. Why does "I see" use a ж (вижу)?
The verb видеть has a slight consonant change in the "I" form. The д changes to a ж, creating я вижу. For all the other forms, the д stays in place, like in ты видишь (you see) or она видит (she sees).