Breakdown of Мы проезжаем мимо красивого озера.
мы
we
красивый
beautiful
озеро
lake
мимо
past (moving by)
проезжать
to drive past
Questions & Answers about Мы проезжаем мимо красивого озера.
How does the preposition мимо affect the words that follow it?
The preposition мимо means "past" or "by" and always requires the Genitive case. Because of this, both the adjective красивое and the neuter noun озеро change to their Genitive forms, becoming красивого озера.
Could we just say Мы едем мимо instead of using проезжаем?
You can say Мы едем мимо, but проезжаем is much more natural and precise here. The prefix про- added to a verb of motion specifically means "to pass by" or "to go past". It pairs perfectly with мимо to emphasize the action of passing a specific location while in a vehicle.
I keep forgetting: how exactly is the ending of красивого pronounced?
It is pronounced with a "v" sound, not a "g"! The Genitive masculine and neuter adjective endings -ого and -его are always pronounced as if they were written with a "v" (like -ово or -ево). So, красивого sounds roughly like "kra-SEE-va-va".
Does the stress change on the word озера here?
No, the stress stays on the first syllable just like in the Nominative dictionary form озеро. But be careful not to confuse this Genitive singular form with the Nominative plural form for "lakes", which has a stress shift and is written with a yo: озёра.
Learn Мы проезжаем мимо красивого озера 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