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Questions & Answers about Строитель строит дом.
Why doesn't the word "дом" change its ending here since it's the object being built?
In Russian, the direct object of an action takes the accusative case. Usually, this means changing the word's ending. However, for inanimate masculine nouns (things that are not alive), the accusative form is exactly the same as the basic dictionary form. That is why дом stays exactly as it is!
"Строитель" ends in a soft sign (ь). Is there a rule to know if it's masculine or feminine?
The translation says "is building", but how do you say "builds"?
You would use the exact same word, строит! Russian does not have a separate continuous tense like English does with "is building." The present tense verb строит can translate to "builds" or "is building" depending entirely on what makes sense in the context.
The words "строитель" and "строит" look very similar. Is this common?
Yes! They share the exact same root. Russian relies heavily on root words to build vocabulary. Строитель (builder) is just the noun form of the verb строит (builds). Spotting these root families will help you guess the meanings of new words much faster.