Breakdown of Я положил сумку на диван, и собака сразу вскочила на неё.
и
and
она
she / it (for a feminine noun)
я
I
собака
dog
сумка
bag
на
on, at / by (transport) / to (a place) / to (in answer to)
диван
sofa, couch
сразу
immediately
положить
to put (down)
вскочить
to jump up (pf)
Questions & Answers about Я положил сумку на диван, и собака сразу вскочила на неё.
How does the prefix in вскочила change the meaning of the verb?
The prefix вз- or вс- adds the meaning of upward motion. Here, it combines with the root for jumping to mean 'jumped up.' It is spelled with an 'с' rather than 'з' because the following letter (к) is a voiceless consonant.
Why is there an extra 'н' in на неё?
When third-person pronouns like её (her/it) directly follow a preposition like на, Russian adds an 'н' to the beginning. It is in the accusative case here because it shows the direction the dog jumped (onto the bag, which is feminine).
Why use положил here instead of another word for 'put' like поставил?
The verb положить specifically means to put something down flat or horizontally. A bag (сумка) is soft and doesn't usually stand on a firm base, so you lay it down. You would use поставить for objects that stand upright, like a glass or a lamp.
Why do we use на диван instead of the prepositional case на диване?
Because putting the bag down involves motion towards a destination. We use на with the accusative case (диван) to answer the question 'where to?' If the bag was simply resting there already without any motion, we would use the prepositional case to answer 'where at?' (на диване).
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