Questions & Answers about Корова даёт молоко.
Why does the verb даёт look so different from its infinitive давать?
The verb давать (to give) belongs to a special group of verbs ending in -вать. In the present tense, the -ва- drops out. So instead of 'даваю', it becomes даю, даёшь, and for the cow (she), it becomes даёт.
Since 'milk' is the object, why isn't молоко changing its ending for the Accusative case?
It actually is in the Accusative case, but you cannot tell just by looking at it! Молоко is a neuter, inanimate noun. Neuter words always look exactly the same in the Accusative case as they do in their basic Nominative (dictionary) form.
This lesson focuses on animate nouns. How do the animate Accusative rules apply to корова in this sentence?
They do not apply here because корова is the subject (the one doing the giving), so it stays in the Nominative case. The animate Accusative rules only apply when the living thing is the direct object receiving the action. If you wanted to say 'I see the cows' (plural direct object), then you would use the special animate Accusative plural from this lesson: Я вижу коров.
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