Questions & Answers about Обед был очень вкусный.
Why do we use был and not была or было?
In Russian, past tense verbs change their ending to match the gender of the subject. Because обед (lunch) ends in a consonant, it is a masculine noun. Therefore, it takes the masculine past tense form был.
I learned that Russian skips the verb 'to be' in the present tense. Do we have to use it in the past tense?
Yes! In the present tense, you would just say Обед очень вкусный (Lunch [is] very tasty). But in the past tense, you must use a past tense form of the verb to be (был, была, было, or были) to show that the event already happened.
Why does вкусный end in -ый?
Adjectives must match the gender of the noun they describe. Since обед is a masculine noun, the adjective takes the standard masculine ending -ый. If the subject were feminine, like пицца (pizza), you would use the feminine ending and say вкусная.
Learn Обед был очень вкусный and more in Russian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free