Questions & Answers about Мы купили ящик огурцов.
Why does the word for cucumbers end in -ов here?
This is the genitive plural form of the masculine noun огурец (cucumber). When a masculine noun ends in a consonant, we usually add -ов to make it genitive plural. Notice that the -е- in огурец is a "fleeting vowel" that drops out when we add endings, leaving us with the base огурц-. Because the stress in this word falls on the final syllable, it takes -ов instead of -ев, giving us огурцов.
Why do we need the genitive case for огурцов in the first place?
In Russian, when you use a container, measure, or quantity word (like a box, a cup, a kilo, or "a lot"), the item inside that container takes the genitive case. Just like in English we say "a box of cucumbers", the genitive case here expresses that "of" relationship.
Ящик (box) is the direct object that was bought. Why didn't its ending change?
Because ящик is a masculine inanimate noun (an object, not a living person or animal). For masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative case (used for direct objects) looks exactly identical to the dictionary form (the nominative case).
Why is the verb купили used instead of покупали?
Купили is the perfective past tense. You use it here because buying the box of cucumbers was a single, successfully completed action with a clear result. Покупали is imperfective, which you would only use if you were talking about a repeated habit (like "we used to buy") or the ongoing process of buying.
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