Breakdown of В теплице этот сорт помидоров поливают два раза в день.
день
day
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
два
two
в
on / during (a time period)
раз
time, occasion
помидор
tomato
поливать
to water
теплица
greenhouse
сорт
variety
Questions & Answers about В теплице этот сорт помидоров поливают два раза в день.
Why is поливают (they water) used if the pronoun они (they) isn't in the sentence?
Russian frequently drops the pronoun они (they) to show that an action is done by unspecified people. It is the Russian equivalent of the English general "they" ("they water this variety") or the passive voice ("this variety is watered").
Since the tomato variety is receiving the action, shouldn't этот сорт be in the accusative case?
It actually is in the accusative case! The direct object of the verb is сорт (variety). Because сорт is a masculine inanimate noun, its accusative form looks exactly the same as its nominative form.
Why does the sentence use помидоров instead of помидоры?
The phrase translates to "variety of tomatoes," so we need the genitive case to show composition. For most masculine nouns ending in a hard consonant, the genitive plural is formed by adding -ов, giving us помидоров.
Why is the word for "times" written as раза in this sentence?
After the numbers 2, 3, and 4, Russian nouns must take the genitive singular form. The genitive singular of раз (time) is раза.
How does в день translate to "a day" in "twice a day"?
To express frequency like "per day" or "a week," Russian uses the preposition в followed by the time period in the accusative case. So, "twice a day" literally translates to "two times into the day" (два раза в день).
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