Questions & Answers about Кот спит около старого кресла.
Why is the adjective старого spelled with a 'г' but pronounced with a 'v'?
In Russian, the genitive masculine and neuter adjective endings -ого and -его are always pronounced as '-ovo' and '-yevo'. So старого sounds like 'starovo'. This is a strict pronunciation rule you will see constantly with genitive adjectives and pronouns!
Why do we use the genitive case for 'old armchair' (старого кресла) in this sentence?
The preposition около (near) always requires the following noun and its modifiers to be in the genitive case. Because we are saying 'near the old armchair', both the adjective and the noun must take genitive endings.
The word кресла ends in -а. Does that mean it is a feminine noun?
No, the dictionary form is кресло (armchair), which is a neuter noun because it ends in -о. To make a neuter noun genitive, you change the -о to an -а. It looks exactly like a feminine dictionary word, but the adjective ending -ого is your clue that it is actually neuter (or masculine).
How would this sentence change if the cat was sleeping near a feminine object, like an old lamp (старая лампа)?
You would still use the genitive case because of около, but the feminine genitive endings are different. It would become Кот спит около старой лампы. The feminine genitive adjective ending is -ой, rather than the masculine/neuter -ого.
Learn Кот спит около старого кресла and more in Russian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free