Breakdown of Автобус медленно подъезжает к светофору.
медленно
slowly
автобус
bus
к
towards, to
подъезжать
to drive up (impf)
Questions & Answers about Автобус медленно подъезжает к светофору.
Why does this sentence use подъезжает instead of подходит to mean 'approaches'?
The prefix под- means 'approach' or 'come up to'. While подходить is used for approaching on foot, a bus is a vehicle, so we must use a transport verb. The imperfective form for approaching by vehicle is подъезжать.
Why is there a hard sign (ъ) in the middle of подъезжает?
The hard sign (ъ) is used to separate a prefix ending in a consonant (like под-) from a root starting with a soft vowel like е, ё, ю, or я. It tells you to pronounce the prefix and the root distinctly, preventing the consonant from blending into the vowel.
Why is the word for traffic light in the Dative case (светофору)?
The preposition к (meaning 'to' or 'towards') always requires the Dative case. When you use a под- prefixed verb of motion to state what is being approached, you will almost always pair it with к + a Dative target.
Could we use the perfective verb подъедет here, since the bus will eventually reach the light?