Breakdown of Врач смотрит горло.
врач
doctor
смотреть
to watch / to look at / make sure (in a warning)
горло
throat
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Questions & Answers about Врач смотрит горло.
Why is смотрит translated as 'examines' here instead of 'looks'?
The verb смотреть literally means 'to look' or 'to watch', but in a medical context, it is commonly used to mean 'to examine'. When a doctor checks your throat, ears, or examines you in general, Russians naturally use смотреть.
If the doctor is looking AT the throat, why isn't there a preposition like на?
When смотреть is used to mean 'to watch' (like a movie) or 'to examine' medically, it takes a direct object with no preposition. If you added на (смотрит на горло), it would mean the doctor is simply staring at the throat from a distance, rather than looking inside to check it.
What case is горло in here?
It is in the accusative case because it is the direct object (the thing being examined). It looks exactly like the dictionary form because горло is a neuter noun, and neuter nouns do not change their endings in the accusative case.
Why doesn't the sentence specify whose throat it is, like 'my throat' or 'the patient's throat'?
In Russian, possessive pronouns (like 'my', 'your', 'his') are usually left out when talking about body parts or clothing, as long as the context makes it obvious who they belong to.