Question 1

Since путь ends in a soft sign, how can I tell it is masculine in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

You can tell by looking at the modifiers. Both Этот (this) and долгий (long) are in their masculine nominative forms. If путь were feminine, the sentence would start with Эта долгая.

Question 2

Why is путь considered an "anomalous" masculine noun?

Accepted Answer

Even though it is masculine, it doesn't decline like typical masculine words ending in a soft sign like день. Instead, it mostly copies the endings of feminine nouns like ночь. For example, its genitive, dative, and prepositional forms are all пути. The only exception is the instrumental case, where it takes the standard masculine ending путём. In this sentence, it is simply in the nominative case.

Question 3

Why does this sentence use ведёт instead of водит for "leads"?

Accepted Answer

Both are forms of "to lead," but they form a verb of motion pair. Вести (where ведёт comes from) is the unidirectional verb, describing motion in one specific direction. Since a path leads continuously toward a single destination, Russian uses the unidirectional verb here.

Question 4

What case is в тупик and why doesn't the word change?

Accepted Answer

It is in the accusative case because the preposition в indicates the direction of motion toward a destination. Because тупик (dead end) is an inanimate masculine noun, its accusative form is identical to its dictionary (nominative) form.

Этот долгий путь ведёт в тупик.

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