Question 1

Why is свою used here instead of её (her)?

Accepted Answer

The reflexive possessive pronoun свой (and its forms like свою) means 'one's own' and refers back to the subject of the sentence. If we used её, it would mean the secretary is putting the contract into someone else's folder.

Question 2

Why is the form свою instead of своя or свой?

Accepted Answer

It must match the noun it describes, папку (folder), in gender, number, and case. Because the action is directed into the folder, папку is in the Accusative case (feminine singular). The matching Accusative feminine form of свой is свою.

Question 3

Why do we use the Accusative case (в свою папку) instead of the Prepositional case?

Accepted Answer

The verb кладёт (puts) shows motion towards a destination. In Russian, when the preposition в indicates direction (into), it takes the Accusative case. If we were describing where the contract already is (location), we would use the Prepositional case.

Question 4

The word секретарь is masculine, so why does the English translation say 'her folder'?

Accepted Answer

Many job titles in Russian, like секретарь, are grammatically masculine but can refer to either a man or a woman. The English translation uses 'her' based on context, but the Russian word свою simply points back to the subject regardless of the person's actual gender.

Question 5

Why doesn't договор change its ending, since it is being acted upon?

Accepted Answer

Договор (contract) is a masculine inanimate noun (a non-living thing). For inanimate masculine nouns, the Accusative case form is exactly the same as the Nominative dictionary form, even when it is the direct object.

Секретарь кладёт договор в свою папку.

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