Breakdown of Идти по тропинке тяжело для спины.
идти
to go (on foot) / to proceed, go (of a process)
для
for
по
along, around
тропинка
path
Questions & Answers about Идти по тропинке тяжело для спины.
Since 'walking' sounds like a general activity, why do we use the unidirectional verb идти instead of the multidirectional ходить?
In Russian, using the unidirectional идти as the subject of a sentence emphasizes the actual, continuous process of walking along a route. If you wanted to talk about the general habit of walking back and forth as an exercise, you would use ходить.
Why does тропинка (path) change to тропинке here?
It follows the preposition по, which is used here to mean 'along' a surface or route. In this meaning, по requires the Dative case. For a feminine noun ending in -а like тропинка, the Dative ending changes to -е.
Why is тяжело used instead of an adjective like тяжёлый?
When an infinitive verb like идти (to walk) is the main topic or subject of the sentence, Russian uses the adverb form ending in -о to describe it. Since there is no masculine, feminine, or plural noun for an adjective to agree with, we use the impersonal тяжело.
Why does the word for 'back' (спина) change to спины?
The preposition для (for) always requires the noun that follows it to be in the Genitive case. For feminine nouns ending in -а, the Genitive ending is usually -ы, so спина becomes спины.