Breakdown of Турист подходит к стойке.
турист
tourist
к
towards, to
подходить
to approach, to come up to (imperfective)
стойка
counter
Questions & Answers about Турист подходит к стойке.
Why do we need the preposition к here? Couldn't we just use в or на?
Verbs with the prefix под- (meaning to approach or come up to) almost always pair with the preposition к (towards) and the Dative case. This combination means you are coming up to the edge or vicinity of something, rather than going inside (в) or stepping on top of it (на).
If the tourist is approaching right now in one direction, shouldn't we use a verb based on идти instead of ходить?
This is a common trap with prefixed verbs of motion! When you add a prefix to create a new meaning, the base verbs change their roles. The multidirectional base (ходить) becomes the imperfective verb (подходить), which we use for ongoing or present-tense actions like this one. The unidirectional base (идти) becomes the perfective verb (подойти), which we use for completed results.
Why does стойка change to стойке here?
The preposition к always requires the noun to follow in the Dative case. For feminine nouns ending in -а like стойка (counter or stand), the Dative ending is -е.
What kind of counter is a стойка?