Breakdown of В чьей статье ты читал о происхождении этой редкой статуэтки?
ты
you (singular)
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
чей
whose (m, sister forms: чья, чьё)
читать
to read
в
in / to (direction)
о
about (о, об, обо)
статья
article
статуэтка
statuette
происхождение
origin
редкий
rare
Questions & Answers about В чьей статье ты читал о происхождении этой редкой статуэтки?
Why is the word for 'whose' written as чьей in this sentence?
It is in the prepositional case to match the feminine noun статье (article). The preposition в (in) triggers the prepositional case here to indicate location. Notice that for feminine nouns, the pronoun чья (whose) conveniently takes the form чьей in the genitive, dative, instrumental, and prepositional cases.
Why does the word происхождении end in -ии rather than the usual prepositional -е ending?
The dictionary form is происхождение (origin), which is a neuter noun ending in -ие. Nouns ending in -ия or -ие have a special rule: they take -ии in the prepositional case instead of the standard -е.
What case is этой редкой статуэтки in, and why?
It is in the genitive case. While the preposition о (about) puts 'origin' into the prepositional case, the rest of the phrase expresses 'of this rare statuette.' In Russian, the 'of' relationship is shown by using the genitive case for the following nouns and adjectives.
Why does the genitive form of статуэтка end in -и instead of the regular feminine genitive -ы?
This is due to the 7-letter spelling rule. You cannot write the letter ы after the letters к, г, х, ш, щ, ж, or ч. Because статуэтка ends in -ка, the genitive ending must change to -и, making it статуэтки.
Learn В чьей статье ты читал о происхождении этой редкой статуэтки 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