Breakdown of Мы фотографируем красивых моделей.
мы
we
красивый
beautiful
фотографировать
to photograph
модель
model
Questions & Answers about Мы фотографируем красивых моделей.
Why do красивых and моделей look like they are in the Genitive case?
Because of the Animate Accusative rule! When the direct object of a verb is a living being (like a person or animal) in the plural, its Accusative case endings copy the Genitive plural endings. Since models are people, we use the Genitive plural forms красивых моделей instead of the regular Nominative-looking plural.
How do we get the ending -ей on the word моделей?
The dictionary form is модель (model), which is a feminine noun ending in a soft sign (-ь). For nouns ending in a soft sign, the Genitive plural (and therefore the Animate Accusative plural) is formed by replacing the -ь with -ей.
Why does the verb фотографируем have a -у- in it when the infinitive is фотографировать?
This verb belongs to a special group ending in -овать. When you conjugate these verbs in the present tense, the -ова- part drops out and is replaced by a -у- before adding the regular endings (like -ем for мы). So, фотографировать becomes я фотографирую, мы фотографируем, and so on.
What would this sentence look like if we were photographing inanimate objects, like beautiful tables?
If the object is inanimate (not alive), the Accusative plural simply copies the Nominative plural. Table is стол and its Nominative plural is столы. So, We photograph beautiful tables would be Мы фотографируем красивые столы. No Genitive endings are used!
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