Breakdown of Одна перчатка дома, а другая на столе.
стол
table / desk
а
and (contrastive)
дома
at home
на
on, at / by (transport) / to (a place) / to (in answer to)
один
one
другой
other
перчатка
glove
Questions & Answers about Одна перчатка дома, а другая на столе.
Why is the word for 'one' spelled одна instead of один?
In Russian, the number 'one' must match the gender of the noun it counts. Since перчатка (glove) is a feminine noun, you have to use the feminine form одна.
Why does the sentence use дома instead of в доме for 'at home'?
дома is a special adverb that specifically means 'at home' (your place of residence). If you said в доме, it would sound more literal, like saying the glove is physically 'inside the house' or building.
Why use the conjunction а instead of и for 'and'?
The conjunction а is used to show a slight contrast or shift in focus, often acting like 'whereas' or 'while' in English. Here, you are contrasting the location of the first glove with the location of the second one. You would use и only if there was no contrast.
Why does the word for 'other' (другая) end in -ая?
другая is an adjective meaning 'other' or 'another'. Even though the word перчатка isn't repeated in the second half of the sentence, другая still describes that missing feminine noun. Therefore, it takes the feminine nominative ending -ая to match it.
Why is it на столе instead of just на стол?
To say that something is resting 'on' a location, you use the preposition на followed by the prepositional case. For a standard masculine noun like стол (table), you form the prepositional case by adding an -е to the end, making it столе.
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