Breakdown of Кот был голоден, но теперь он сыт.
кот
cat
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
быть
to be
но
but
теперь
now (as opposed to before)
голодный
hungry
сытый
full
Questions & Answers about Кот был голоден, но теперь он сыт.
Why do we use голоден and сыт instead of the normal adjectives голодный and сытый?
These are short-form adjectives. In Russian, short forms are often used to describe temporary states or conditions. Since being hungry or full is a temporary feeling rather than a permanent trait of the cat, the short forms голоден and сыт are the most natural choice here.
I know the word for hungry is голодный. Where did the extra 'е' in голоден come from?
It is added to make the word easier to pronounce! To make a masculine short adjective, you usually drop the full ending. For голодный, that would leave a difficult cluster of consonants: голодн. Russian fixes this by inserting a fleeting vowel. If the cat were female, the feminine short form adds an -а to the stem, so it goes back to голодна without needing the extra 'е'.
Why does the sentence use теперь for 'now' instead of сейчас?
The word теперь specifically means 'now, as opposed to before.' It highlights a change in circumstances. Because the sentence contrasts how the cat felt in the past (hungry) with how he feels right now (full), теперь is the perfect word to emphasize this shift.
Why is there a verb in Кот был голоден but no verb in он сыт?
Russian does not use the verb 'to be' in the present tense, so 'he is full' translates simply as он сыт. However, you still need the verb 'to be' in the past and future tenses. That is why the first half of the sentence must include был to show that the cat 'was' hungry.
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