Breakdown of Капли дождя падают с балкона.
дождь
rain
падать
to fall
балкон
balcony
с
off / down from (a surface)
капля
drop
Questions & Answers about Капли дождя падают с балкона.
Why do we use с instead of из for 'from the balcony'?
The preposition с is the direct opposite of на. Because you step onto a balcony (на балкон), things falling off of it take с. If rain were falling out of an enclosed space that takes в (like a cloud), you would use из instead.
Why is the word for rain in the genitive case (дождя)?
In English, we can smush words together to make compound nouns like 'raindrops', but Russian often uses the genitive case to link nouns. Капли дождя literally translates to 'drops of rain'.
Why does балкон end in -а here?
The preposition с (when meaning 'from' or 'off of') requires the noun to be in the genitive case. Because балкон is a masculine noun ending in a hard consonant, we add -а to make it балкона.
What is the infinitive of падают, and what aspect is it?
The infinitive is падать (to fall), and it is an imperfective verb. This tells us the action is currently ongoing: the drops 'are falling' right now. The perfective counterpart is упасть, which would be used for a completed fall.
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