Breakdown of Мне нравится смотреть на птиц через бинокль.
я
I
птица
bird
на
on, at / by (transport) / to (a place) / to (in answer to)
смотреть
to watch / to look at / make sure (in a warning)
нравиться
to please / to appeal
через
through
бинокль
the binoculars
Questions & Answers about Мне нравится смотреть на птиц через бинокль.
Why do we use через here, and what case follows it?
The preposition через is used in this sentence to mean "through" a physical medium or instrument. It always takes the accusative case. Since бинокль (binoculars) is an inanimate masculine noun, its accusative form looks exactly the same as its nominative (dictionary) form.
Wait, "binoculars" is plural in English. Is бинокль singular in Russian?
Yes! Unlike in English, where we treat "binoculars" as a plural noun, Russian treats бинокль as a standard singular masculine noun. If you wanted to talk about two pairs of binoculars, you would say два бинокля.
Why is the word for birds (птиц) in the genitive case here?
It is actually in the accusative case! The phrase смотреть на (to look at) requires the accusative. However, because birds are living things (animate), their plural accusative form copies the plural genitive form. So, the nominative plural птицы becomes птиц.
Why do we use the imperfective verb смотреть instead of the perfective посмотреть?
After verbs expressing likes or dislikes, such as нравится (to like) or любить (to love), you almost always use the imperfective aspect. This is because you are talking about enjoying the ongoing process or a general habit of looking at birds, rather than completing the action just once.
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