Breakdown of Дождь перестал идти.
дождь
rain
идти
to go (on foot) / to proceed, go (of a process)
перестать
to stop, to cease (perfective)
Questions & Answers about Дождь перестал идти.
Why use перестал instead of закончил for "stopped"?
While закончил means "finished" (like completing a deliberate task or a book), перестал means "ceased" or "stopped happening." Because rain is a natural event that just stops rather than a project being finished, перестал is the correct verb to use here.
Why is идти in the imperfective aspect, when перестал is perfective?
This is the golden rule of phase verbs (verbs of starting, continuing, or stopping): the second verb must ALWAYS be an imperfective infinitive. Even though the stopping itself is a completed, perfective event (перестал), the action that got stopped (the raining) was an ongoing process.
Why is the verb идти (to go) used with rain?
In Russian, precipitation doesn't "fall" or "rain"—it "goes." You use the verb идти (to go on foot) for rain (дождь идёт) and snow (снег идёт). So, this sentence literally translates to "The rain ceased to go."
How do I know whether to use перестал or перестала with дождь?
Дождь is a masculine noun. Nouns ending in a soft sign (-ь) can be either masculine or feminine, so their gender has to be memorized. Because the subject is masculine, the past tense verb takes the masculine form перестал.
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