Breakdown of В здании нет грузового лифта, поэтому мы тащим шкаф по лестнице.
мы
we
здание
building
в
in / to (direction)
нет
there is no / is not present
шкаф
cabinet / wardrobe
поэтому
so (therefore)
по
along, around
лестница
stairs, staircase
лифт
elevator
тащить
to drag (unidirectional)
грузовой
freight / cargo (adjective)
Questions & Answers about В здании нет грузового лифта, поэтому мы тащим шкаф по лестнице.
Why do we use the unidirectional verb тащим instead of the multidirectional таскаем in this sentence?
The action is happening right now, in one continuous motion and in a single direction. If you were talking about dragging heavy furniture up and down stairs on a regular basis, or dragging it around aimlessly, you would use the multidirectional таскаем.
How do we know they are dragging it 'up' the stairs, since по лестнице usually just means 'along' the stairs?
You are right that по plus the dative case (лестнице) just indicates movement along a surface. The direction 'up' is inferred from the context of moving a heavy wardrobe because there is no freight elevator. It could technically mean 'down the stairs' if they were moving out!
Why is грузового лифта (freight elevator) in the genitive case?
It follows the word нет (there is no). In Russian, stating the absence or non-existence of something always forces that noun and its describing adjectives into the genitive case.
шкаф is the direct object being dragged. Why hasn't its ending changed for the accusative case?
Because шкаф is an inanimate masculine noun. For inanimate masculine objects, the accusative form is identical to the nominative dictionary form. If you were dragging an animate masculine object (like a dog, пёс), the ending would change to пса.
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