Breakdown of Автобус останавливается здесь.
здесь
here
автобус
bus
останавливаться
to stop, to come to a halt
Questions & Answers about Автобус останавливается здесь.
The current lesson is about the reflexive pronoun 'себя' (oneself). How does that relate to the verb 'останавливается'?
The ending -ся on останавливается is historically a shortened, glued-on version of себя. While you use себя as a separate word for direct actions (like 'I see myself'), adding -ся to a verb often means the action happens on its own or to the subject itself. In this sentence, the bus literally 'stops itself' rather than stopping something else.
Why does the verb end in '-ется' and how is it pronounced?
The infinitive (dictionary form) is останавливаться. Since автобус is an 'it' (3rd person singular), we use the standard -ет ending for this verb conjugation, and then glue the reflexive particle -ся to the very end. Keep in mind that the -тся letter combination is always pronounced as a hard 'ts' sound (like in the English word 'cats'), never as 't-sya'.
Can I use this exact verb if I want to say 'I stop the bus'?
No. If you are stopping an external object or another person, you must take off the -ся ending and use the standard, non-reflexive verb останавливать. You only use the -ся version when the subject is stopping its own motion, like the bus does here.
Is 'останавливается' an imperfective or perfective verb here?
It is imperfective, which means it describes a repeated action, a routine, or a general fact (the bus regularly stops here). If you wanted to talk about a one-time completed action, such as 'The bus will stop here (just this once)', you would need the perfective version of the verb: остановится.
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