Breakdown of Кто открывал окно над плитой?
окно
window
кто
who / whoever
открывать
to open (imperfective)
над
above / on (working on something)
плита
stove
Questions & Answers about Кто открывал окно над плитой?
Why does this sentence use the imperfective verb "открывал" instead of the perfective "открыл"?
This is a classic example of the annulled result meaning of the imperfective aspect. By using открывал, the speaker implies that someone opened the window, but it has since been closed. If they had used the perfective открыл, it would mean the window is still open right now.
Would the grammar change if we knew a woman opened the window?
No. The question word кто grammatically requires the verb to be in the masculine singular form in the past tense. Even if you know for a fact that a woman did it, or if you are in a room full of women, you must still use the masculine form открывал.
Why is the word for stove in the form "плитой" here?
The preposition над (above) requires the noun to be in the instrumental case. The nominative feminine noun плита changes its ending from -а to -ой, giving us над плитой.
Could "открывал" mean "was opening" in this sentence?
Grammatically, it could mean "Who was opening the window?" (an action in progress). However, without additional context like "when I walked in", native speakers will immediately understand this as an annulled result: someone opened it and then closed it.
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