Breakdown of Это приложение само устанавливает обновления.
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
приложение
app
обновление
the update
сам
oneself (emphatic: "I did it myself")
Questions & Answers about Это приложение само устанавливает обновления.
Why do we use само here instead of сам?
Could we put само at the very end of the sentence?
Yes, you could say Это приложение устанавливает обновления само. Putting it at the end gives a slightly stronger, punchier emphasis to the fact that it does the job completely by itself. Placing it right after the noun, as in this sentence, is a standard and very natural way to link the emphasis directly to the app.
What case is обновления and why does it end in -я?
It is in the accusative case, plural, because it is the direct object being installed. The dictionary form is the neuter noun обновление (update). To make it plural, the -е changes to -я. Because it is an inanimate object, its accusative plural form looks exactly like its nominative plural form.
Why is the imperfective verb устанавливает used here instead of the perfective установит?
The imperfective verb устанавливать is used because this is a general fact or a repeated, routine action. The app regularly installs updates. If we used the perfective установит, it would mean the app will successfully install an update one specific time in the future.