Breakdown of Дедушка сейчас несёт на поляну пустое ведро.
сейчас
now
на
on, at / by (transport) / to (a place) / to (in answer to)
дедушка
grandfather
пустой
empty
Questions & Answers about Дедушка сейчас несёт на поляну пустое ведро.
Why does this sentence use несёт instead of носит?
Both verbs mean "to carry," but несёт (from нести) is a unidirectional verb of motion. Because of the word сейчас (right now), we know Grandpa is currently making a single, one-way trip to the glade. If he carried the bucket back and forth, or did it every day as a habit, we would use the multidirectional verb носит.
Why do we use the preposition на for "to the glade" instead of в?
A glade or clearing (поляна) is an open, flat space in nature, rather than an enclosed area like a room or a building. In Russian, we use на for motion toward open spaces and surfaces.
Why does поляна change to поляну here?
Because Grandpa is moving toward the glade, the noun must be in the accusative case to show the direction of motion. For feminine nouns ending in -а, the accusative ending becomes -у.
Since the empty bucket (пустое ведро) is the object being carried, shouldn't its ending change to show the accusative case?
It actually is in the accusative case! However, ведро is an inanimate neuter noun. For inanimate neuter nouns (and their adjectives, like пустое), the accusative case looks exactly the same as the nominative dictionary form, so the endings do not visibly change.