Breakdown of Осторожно, на этой лестнице нет ступенек!
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
на
on, at / by (transport) / to (a place) / to (in answer to)
нет
there is no / is not present
осторожно
cautiously, with care
лестница
stairs, staircase
ступенька
step (stair)
Questions & Answers about Осторожно, на этой лестнице нет ступенек!
The current lesson is about using смотри, не for warnings. Why is it just Осторожно here?
Осторожно (Careful!) is a quick, verbless way to point out an immediate physical hazard. You use смотри, не + a perfective future verb when warning someone not to do a specific accidental action (like 'watch out that you don't fall'). Since this sentence just states a dangerous fact without predicting an action, Осторожно is perfect.
Why is the word for steps ступенек?
This is the genitive plural of ступенька (a step). We use the genitive case after нет to express the absence of something. Notice the fleeting vowel е that pops in before the к to make the cluster of consonants easier to say: ступенька becomes ступенек.
Why use на with лестнице instead of в?
In Russian, you are considered to be 'on' a surface when using a staircase rather than 'in' an enclosed space, so we use на. Because it describes a static location (answering the question 'where?'), the phrase на этой лестнице takes the prepositional case.
What is the exact difference between лестница and ступенька?
Лестница refers to the entire structure: a staircase, a flight of stairs, or even a ladder. Ступенька refers to just one individual step on that structure.
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