Questions & Answers about В городе четыреста домов.
I know that the number 4 (четыре) takes the genitive singular. Why does 400 (четыреста) use the genitive plural домов?
While single digits like 2, 3, and 4 take the genitive singular, the hundreds (200, 300, and 400) behave differently. They require the noun that follows them to be in the genitive plural. Because of this rule, we use домов (genitive plural) instead of дома (genitive singular) after четыреста.
Why does the word for 400 end in "-ста" (четыреста) instead of "-сто"?
The word четыреста is a compound made from четыре (four) and сто (hundred). Because the number 4 requires the genitive singular for the thing it counts, the word сто changes to its genitive singular form, which is ста. Put them together, and you get четыреста.
The English translation says "There are," but there is no verb in the Russian sentence. How does that work?
In the present tense, Russian doesn't use a direct equivalent for "there is" or "there are." Instead, you just state the location first (В городе, meaning "In the town"), and then state what is located there (четыреста домов). The verb "to be" is simply understood from the context.
Why does the word for town have an "-е" at the end (в городе)?
The preposition в (in/at) requires the prepositional case when you are talking about a static location. The dictionary form of the word is город, but to say "in the town," you must add the prepositional ending "-е", making it в городе.
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