Questions & Answers about В планетарии очень темно и тихо.
Why does планетарии end in -ии instead of the standard Prepositional -е ending?
The dictionary form of the word is планетарий. Masculine nouns ending in -ий, as well as nouns ending in -ия and -ие, are an exception to the normal rule. Instead of taking the usual -е ending in the Prepositional case, they take -ии.
Does the ending of планетарии sound different from the dictionary form планетарий?
Yes. The dictionary form планетарий ends with the short consonant sound й (like the 'y' in 'boy'). The Prepositional form планетарии ends with a full vowel sound -и (like the 'ee' in 'see'), which is drawn out slightly longer because there are two of them written back-to-back.
Why are we using the words темно and тихо instead of adjectives like тёмный and тихий?
This is an impersonal sentence describing a general environment. Russian does not use a dummy subject like 'it' for this. Instead, it uses state words ending in -о (which look exactly like adverbs) to say 'it is dark' (темно) and 'it is quiet' (тихо).
Why does the sentence start with В планетарии instead of putting it at the end like the English translation does?