Breakdown of Художники создают картины цветными красками.
художник
artist
картина
picture / painting
цветной
colored
краска
the paint
создавать
to create
Questions & Answers about Художники создают картины цветными красками.
Why do we use the instrumental case for цветными красками here?
In Russian, the instrumental case is used to show what tool or instrument is used to perform an action. Because the artists are creating pictures by means of colored paints, we use the instrumental plural endings: -ыми for the adjective and -ами for the noun.
How do I know whether to use -ыми or -ими for plural adjectives in the instrumental case?
Is картины in the nominative or accusative case in this sentence?
It is in the accusative case, because "pictures" are the direct object being created. However, for inanimate nouns (objects, not people or animals), the plural accusative form looks exactly the same as the plural nominative form (картины). This is why the ending doesn't change here.
The infinitive for "to create" is создавать. Why is the -ва- missing in создают?
Verbs ending in -давать, -знавать, and -ставать drop the -ва- syllable when they are conjugated in the present tense. So, создавать becomes создают (they create), just like the common verb давать (to give) becomes дают (they give).
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