Breakdown of Художники рисуют этими дорогими красками.
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
дорогой
expensive
художник
artist
рисовать
to draw
Questions & Answers about Художники рисуют этими дорогими красками.
Why is there no word for "with" before этими дорогими красками?
In Russian, the Instrumental case on its own is used to show the tool or instrument used to perform an action. Since the paints are the tool the artists are using, we don't need a preposition like с (with). We just put the phrase in the Instrumental case. Using с here would sound like the artists are drawing alongside the paints as companions!
How do the Instrumental plural endings work for этими дорогими красками?
The noun краска (paint) takes the standard Instrumental plural noun ending -ами to become красками. Adjectives and plural demonstratives usually take -ыми or -ими. The plural pronoun эти (these) becomes этими, and the adjective дорогие (expensive) becomes дорогими.
Why does дорогими end in -ими rather than the standard adjective ending -ыми?
This is because of the 7-letter spelling rule! The stem of дорогой (expensive) ends in г. After the letters г, к, х, ж, ч, ш, щ, you can never write the letter ы. You must write и instead. So, the regular -ыми ending changes to -ими.
The infinitive for "to draw" is рисовать. Why does the -ова- disappear in ?