Breakdown of Он лепил скульптуру из материала, с которым работал художник.
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
работать
to work
художник
artist
с
with (also со)
Questions & Answers about Он лепил скульптуру из материала, с которым работал художник.
Why is it с которым in the Instrumental case when it refers to материала, which is in the Genitive case?
The word который gets its gender and number from the noun it refers back to (masculine singular for материал). However, its case comes from what it does in its own part of the sentence. Here, the artist worked with the material (работал с), which requires the Instrumental case, so we use с которым.
What does the verb лепил mean here, and why use the imperfective form?
The verb лепить means to model, sculpt, or mold something by hand (like clay or snow). The imperfective past tense лепил is used because the sentence focuses on the ongoing process of him sculpting, rather than highlighting a finished, completed result (which would use the perfective слепил).
Is there a reason why the sentence ends with работал художник instead of the English word order художник работал?
In Russian relative clauses, it is very common to put the verb before the subject, especially when the subject is a full noun rather than a pronoun. This word order sounds more natural and fluid to Russian ears, though художник работал would also be grammatically correct.
Why do we say из материала to mean "from the material"?
When you are talking about the physical substance that something is made out of, Russian uses the preposition из followed by the Genitive case. It literally translates to making a sculpture "out of" that material.