Question 1

Why use the unidirectional verb лезет here instead of the multidirectional лазит?

Accepted Answer

Лезет shows that the bear is currently making a single, focused movement in one direction: straight into the snowdrift. If the bear made a habit of crawling into snowdrifts, or was crawling back and forth aimlessly within the snow, you would use the multidirectional verb лазить (like лазит).

Question 2

I thought лезти meant "to climb" (like a tree). Why is it translated as "crawling" here?

Accepted Answer

While лезти does mean "to climb," it broadly describes moving with physical effort, especially squeezing into tight spaces, forcing your way through obstacles, or getting into things you shouldn't. Since a bear can't literally scale a pile of snow like a ladder, it's pushing and forcing its way into the deep snow, which translates best as "crawling" or "forcing its way" in English.

Question 3

Why is глубокий сугроб in the accusative case rather than the prepositional?

Accepted Answer

The preposition в takes the accusative case because there is directed motion toward a destination (answering куда? or "where to?"). The bear is moving into the snowdrift. If the bear were already inside the snowdrift and just crawling around within it, you would use the prepositional case (в глубоком сугробе).

Question 4

I've heard прямо used as a filler word meaning "literally" or "frankly". Is that what it means here?

Accepted Answer

Not in this sentence. While прямо is often used in conversational Russian for emotional emphasis (like "literally" or "straight up"), here it is used in its literal, spatial sense: "straight" or "directly." It emphasizes the direct physical path the bear is taking into the snow.

Медведь лезет прямо в глубокий сугроб.

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