Breakdown of Собака, у которой болит нога, хочет полежать.
собака
dog
хотеть
to want
у
at, by
который
which / who / that (relative pronoun)
нога
leg, foot
болеть
to hurt, to ache; to be ill
полежать
to lie down for a while
Questions & Answers about Собака, у которой болит нога, хочет полежать.
Why use полежать instead of just лежать here?
The prefix по- adds the meaning of doing the action for a short, limited time. While лежать just means to be in a lying position, полежать is a perfective verb meaning "to lie down for a bit." Since the dog's leg hurts, it wants a short rest.
Wait, doesn't лечь mean "to lie down"? What is the difference between лечь and полежать?
Лечь is the standard perfective verb for "to lie down," but it only focuses on the physical change of position (going from standing to lying). Полежать focuses on spending a little time in that state. The dog doesn't just want to hit the floor; it wants to rest in a lying position for a while.
How exactly does у которой translate to "whose"?
Russian expresses "whose" in a relative clause using the standard structure for possession: у + genitive. Because it refers back to собака (a feminine noun), we use the feminine genitive form of который (which/who). Literally, the clause means "The dog, at which the leg hurts..."
Why is the verb болит in the singular form?
When using болеть (to hurt/ache), the body part that hurts is actually the grammatical subject of that clause! Here, the thing doing the hurting is нога (leg), which is singular, so we use the singular болит. If the dog had multiple hurting legs (ноги), it would be болят.
Learn Собака, у которой болит нога, хочет полежать 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