Breakdown of Собака часто подбегает к моей скамейке.
собака
dog
мой
my (мой, моя, моё) / mine
часто
often
к
towards, to
скамейка
bench
подбегать
to run up (impf)
Questions & Answers about Собака часто подбегает к моей скамейке.
Why use the imperfective подбегает instead of the perfective подбежит?
The word часто (often) tells us this is a repeated, habitual action. In Russian, repeated actions always require imperfective verbs, like подбегать.
How does the prefix под- change the base verb here?
The prefix под- adds the meaning of approaching or coming up close to a target. When combined with a verb of running, it creates подбегать, meaning to run up to something.
If the verb already has the под- prefix, why do we need the preposition к?
Verbs of motion with the под- prefix almost always pair with the preposition к (towards or to) to introduce the destination. The prefix shows the approach, and к connects the action to the specific target.
What case is моей скамейке and why?
It is in the Dative case because the preposition к always requires the Dative. The dictionary form is моя скамейка (my bench); the feminine ending -а changes to -е, and моя changes to моей.
Since подбегает is built from бегать (a multi-directional verb), does it mean running in multiple directions?
Not anymore! When you add a prefix to a multi-directional verb like бегать, it loses the multi-directional meaning. Instead, the combination simply creates the imperfective form of the verb to show habitual or ongoing action.
Learn Собака часто подбегает к моей скамейке and more in Russian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free