Breakdown of Курьер достал коробку из-под стола.
стол
table / desk
коробка
box (cardboard)
курьер
courier
из-под
from under
достать
to take out (from a pocket or container, perfective)
Questions & Answers about Курьер достал коробку из-под стола.
Why use достал instead of взял for "took"?
While взял means "took" in a general sense, достал (from the verb достать) specifically implies taking something out of somewhere, extracting it, or fetching it. Since the courier is retrieving the box from a specific spot (under the table), достал is the most natural choice here.
What does из-под mean, and what case does it trigger?
из-под means "from under" or "out from under." It is a compound preposition combining из (out of) and под (under). Because it focuses on motion out of a place, it takes the Genitive case, just like из does. That is why the masculine noun стол becomes стола.
How is из-под pronounced?
Even though it is written with a hyphen, you pronounce it as a single word: /ис-пот/. The з in из changes to an "s" sound because it is right next to the voiceless п, and the д at the end becomes a "t" sound.
Just as a quick refresher, why is it коробку instead of коробка?
The word коробка (box) is the direct object receiving the action of the verb достал (he fetched the box). This means it must be in the Accusative case, where feminine nouns ending in -а change to -у.
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