Breakdown of Вещи, которые упали в воду, скоро начнут всплывать.
вода
water
в
in / to (direction)
вещь
thing
скоро
soon
который
which / who / that (relative pronoun)
начать
to begin (perfective)
упасть
to fall (perfective)
всплывать
to float up, to surface (impf)
Questions & Answers about Вещи, которые упали в воду, скоро начнут всплывать.
What does the prefix вс- do in the verb всплывать?
The prefix вс- (used instead of вз- because п is a voiceless consonant) adds the meaning of upward movement. Added to a verb related to swimming or floating, всплывать specifically means to float up to the surface.
Why do we use the imperfective verb всплывать after начнут?
In Russian, whenever you use a verb that means to start, continue, or finish (like начать), the action verb that follows it must always be in the imperfective aspect. Even though начнут (will start) is perfective, the ongoing process of floating must use the imperfective всплывать.
Why is it в воду instead of в воде if the things are in the water?
Because the verb упали (fell) describes a motion into a place. We use в + the accusative case (воду) to show the destination of a movement. If we were just stating that the things were already resting in the water, we would use the prepositional case (в воде).
How do we know which form of который to use here?
The relative pronoun которые (which/that) gets its plural form from the noun it refers back to, вещи (things). It is in the nominative case because inside its own part of the sentence (которые упали в воду), it acts as the subject that did the falling.
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