Breakdown of Рыбак сидит на льду, а мальчик сидит на берегу.
а
and (contrastive)
мальчик
boy
на
on, at / by (transport) / to (a place) / to (in answer to)
сидеть
to sit
берег
shore, bank
рыбак
fisherman
лёд
ice
Questions & Answers about Рыбак сидит на льду, а мальчик сидит на берегу.
Why do лёд (ice) and берег (shore) end in -у here instead of the usual Prepositional -е?
This is the special Locative case taught in this lesson. A small group of masculine nouns take a stressed -у (or -ю) ending instead of -е when describing exactly where something is located using the prepositions в (in) or на (on). Since the fisherman and the boy are physically located on these surfaces, we use на льду and на берегу.
Where did the ё go when лёд became на льду?
The word лёд has a fleeting vowel. When you add grammatical endings to certain Russian words, the last vowel of the root drops out to make it easier to say. Here, the ё disappears, changing the stem to льд-, and adding the stressed locative ending gives us на льду.
Why is the English word 'and' translated as а instead of и in this sentence?
The conjunction а is used to show a slight contrast or to switch focus from one subject to another. Since we are comparing the location of the fisherman to the new subject of the boy, а is the most natural choice. It acts a bit like 'whereas' or 'while' in English.
Is there a rule for using на (on) instead of в (in) for the shore?
In Russian, you use на for shores, riverbanks, and coasts because they are considered open surfaces or geographical boundaries rather than enclosed spaces. It is best to memorize this as a set combination: you will always say на берегу for 'on the shore' or 'on the bank'.
Learn Рыбак сидит на льду, а мальчик сидит на берегу 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