Breakdown of Можно лечь в этот гамак?
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
в
in / to (direction)
можно
one may, it is allowed
лечь
to lie down
Questions & Answers about Можно лечь в этот гамак?
Why do we use в этот гамак (Accusative case) instead of в этом гамаке (Prepositional case)?
Verbs of assuming a position, like лечь (to lie down), imply a change of state. In Russian, directing an action into a place takes в or на plus the Accusative case. If you were already resting there using the static verb лежать (to be lying), you would use the Prepositional case: я лежу в этом гамаке.
What is the difference between лечь and лежать?
Лечь is the perfective verb meaning the action of lying down (getting into a flat position). Лежать is the imperfective verb for the state of already being flat (to be lying). Since you are asking permission to perform the action of getting into the hammock, you use лечь.
Where is the word for 'I' in the Russian sentence?
There isn't one! The word можно followed by an infinitive literally means 'is it allowed to...' or 'is it possible to...'. From context, it is clear the speaker is asking for themselves, so we translate it as 'May I...'. If you really wanted to specify 'for me', you would add the Dative pronoun мне: можно мне лечь...?
Why don't этот and гамак change their endings in the Accusative case?