Breakdown of Из-за дождя трое щенков и двое котят прятались под крышей.
и
and
дождь
rain
прятаться
to hide
под
under
из-за
because of; from behind
крыша
roof
двое
two (collective)
трое
three (collective)
щенок
puppy
котёнок
kitten
Questions & Answers about Из-за дождя трое щенков и двое котят прятались под крышей.
Why do we use the collective numerals трое and двое here instead of the standard numbers три and два?
In Russian, collective numerals are specifically used with words for baby animals, like щенков (puppies) and котят (kittens). This is a special rule for collective numerals. While you might occasionally hear native speakers use standard numbers with baby animals, using collective numerals like трое and двое is the traditionally correct and more natural choice.
How do we get the form котят from the word for kitten?
The singular for kitten is котёнок. Words for baby animals ending in -ёнок or -онок have a special plural form ending in -ята or -ата, making the nominative plural котята. Since collective numerals like двое require the Genitive plural case, котята drops its final vowel to become котят.
Why is the spelling щенков instead of щеноков?
The nominative singular is щенок. This word contains a fleeting vowel (the о in the final syllable), which drops out when case endings are added. The stem becomes щенк-, and adding the standard masculine Genitive plural ending -ов gives us щенков.
Why is крышей in the Instrumental case after the preposition под?
The preposition под (under) takes the Instrumental case when it describes a static location, answering the question 'where?'. Because the animals were already hiding in that location, we use the Instrumental под крышей. If they were running to get under the roof (indicating direction or 'where to?'), под would take the Accusative case (под крышу).
Why use the imperfective verb прятались instead of the perfective спрятались?
Прятались is used here to describe an ongoing state or process in the past: they were in the middle of hiding while the rain was falling. If the sentence wanted to emphasize the completed action of them successfully taking cover, it would use the perfective form спрятались.
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