Breakdown of Дети играют с деревянными игрушками.
играть
to play
игрушка
toy
с
with (also со)
дети
children
деревянный
wooden
Questions & Answers about Дети играют с деревянными игрушками.
Why do the words деревянными and игрушками end like that?
They are in the Instrumental case because of the preposition с (with). Since we are talking about plural toys, they take the Instrumental plural endings: -ыми for the adjective (деревянный becomes деревянными) and -ами for the noun (игрушка becomes игрушками).
How do I know whether to use -ами or -ями for the noun?
You look at the dictionary form of the word. Игрушка (toy) ends in a hard -а, so it takes the hard Instrumental plural ending -ами. You would only use the soft ending -ями if the noun ended in a soft letter, like -я, -й, or a soft sign (-ь).
Why is there a с here? Can I just use the Instrumental case by itself to mean 'with'?
The Instrumental case by itself usually means 'by means of' or using something as a tool (like writing with a pen). But when you mean 'together with' or are interacting with an object or person, you need the preposition с. The phrase играть с means 'to play with'.
What is the singular form of дети?
The singular form is ребёнок (child). Дети (children) is a completely irregular plural, so it is a good one to memorize! Here it is in the Nominative case because the children are the subject of the sentence doing the playing.
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