Breakdown of Ребёнок подбегает к фонтану.
ребёнок
child
к
towards, to
фонтан
fountain
подбегать
to run up (impf)
Questions & Answers about Ребёнок подбегает к фонтану.
How does the prefix под- change the meaning of the verb in this sentence?
The prefix под- expresses approach, meaning to come up close to a target. When attached to the base verb for running, it creates подбегать, which translates to running up to.
Why do we use the preposition к here instead of в or на?
Verbs of motion with the под- prefix almost always pair with the preposition к, which means towards or up to. The child is running up to the fountain, not entering it, which would require the preposition в.
Why is the word for fountain spelled фонтану here?
The preposition к always triggers the Dative case. Since фонтан is a regular masculine noun ending in a consonant, it takes the -у ending to become фонтану.
Is подбегает a perfective or imperfective verb?
It is an imperfective verb in the present tense, showing that the child is currently in the process of running. If you wanted to say the child successfully ran up to the fountain in the past, you would use the perfective verb подбежать, which becomes подбежал in the masculine past tense.
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