Question 1

Why is there no preposition before каждый месяц (every month)?

Accepted Answer

In Russian, to say you do something like 'every day' or 'every month', you do not need a preposition. You just use the word каждый (every) followed by the time word in the bare Accusative case.

Question 2

If каждый месяц is in the Accusative case, why doesn't its ending change?

Accepted Answer

The word месяц (month) is a masculine inanimate noun. For masculine things (not people or animals), the Accusative case is identical to the Nominative (dictionary) case. Because of this, the modifier каждый also keeps its dictionary form.

Question 3

The word шампунь ends in a soft sign (-ь). Doesn't that make it feminine?

Accepted Answer

Nouns ending in a soft sign can be either masculine or feminine. Шампунь is a classic word that trips learners up: it is actually masculine! That is why it pairs with the masculine adjective новый (new) instead of the feminine новая.

Question 4

Since новый шампунь is the direct object being bought, why isn't it taking an Accusative case ending like -ую?

Accepted Answer

It actually is in the Accusative case! Because шампунь is a masculine inanimate object, its Accusative form does not change from the dictionary form. If it were feminine, the adjective would change to новую, but as a masculine object, it stays новый шампунь.

Question 5

Why do we use the verb покупает (imperfective) instead of its perfective pair?

Accepted Answer

The trigger phrase here is каждый месяц (every month). This tells us the action is a habit or a repeating routine. In Russian, you must always use imperfective verbs (like покупает) for repeated actions.

Мой муж покупает новый шампунь каждый месяц.

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