Breakdown of Он бросает мяч.
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
мяч
ball
бросать
to throw; to give up
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Questions & Answers about Он бросает мяч.
Why doesn't the word мяч change its ending here since it is the direct object?
Мяч (ball) is the direct object, so it is in the accusative case. For masculine nouns, the accusative case form depends on whether the object is alive or not. Since a ball is an inanimate object, its accusative form is identical to its nominative (dictionary) form.
Does бросает mean "throws" or "is throwing"?
It can mean both! Russian does not have a separate continuous tense. The verb бросать is imperfective, meaning it describes an ongoing action or a repeating habit. Context will tell you if he is throwing the ball right now or if he throws it regularly.
Throwing makes the ball move, so is бросать a verb of motion like везти or возить?
No, it is not. While the action involves movement, бросать behaves like a regular verb. Russian only reserves the special unidirectional and multidirectional rules for a specific set of core verbs that describe traveling, walking, or transporting things.
What is the infinitive (dictionary form) of бросает?
The infinitive is бросать (to throw). It follows the most common and regular conjugation pattern for verbs ending in -ать. You simply drop the -ть and add -ет for the "he/she/it" form.