Breakdown of Люди ищут старый корабль на дне моря.
море
sea
старый
old
на
on, at / by (transport) / to (a place) / to (in answer to)
люди
people
искать
to look for
корабль
ship
дно
bottom
Questions & Answers about Люди ищут старый корабль на дне моря.
The current lesson is about the irregular Prepositional ending -у. Why does дно (bottom) just end in -е here?
The irregular stressed -у / -ю ending used for locations (like в лесу or в шкафу) only applies to a specific group of masculine nouns. Because дно is a neuter noun, it simply takes the standard Prepositional ending -е to become на дне (at the bottom).
Why is старый корабль in the Nominative case if it's the direct object they are looking for?
It is actually in the Accusative case! For inanimate (non-living) masculine nouns like корабль, the Accusative form is identical to the Nominative form. If they were looking for a living thing (an animate noun), the ending would change.
Doesn't the verb искать (to look for) sometimes require the Genitive case?
Yes, it can. We use the Genitive case after искать when looking for something abstract, undefined, or something that might not even exist (like "peace" or "a good idea"). Because these people are looking for a specific, physical object (a ship), we use the Accusative case.
Where does the щ in ищут come from?
It is a standard consonant mutation. The infinitive is искать (to look for). In its present tense conjugation, the ск in the root changes to щ for all pronouns (for example: я ищу, он ищет, они ищут).
Why is the word for "sea" written as моря here?
Моря is the Genitive case form of the neuter noun море (sea). The Genitive is used here to show possession or belonging, which is usually translated to English using "of". So, на дне моря literally means "at the bottom of the sea."
Learn Люди ищут старый корабль на дне моря and more in Russian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free