Breakdown of В планетарии очень темно и тихо.
и
and
очень
very
тихо
quietly
в
in / to (direction)
темно
dark
планетарий
planetarium
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?
Russian word order often puts the established setting or location at the beginning of the sentence to set the scene. The most important or new information (the fact that it is dark and quiet) is placed at the end for emphasis.
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