Word
Зимой дедушка часто катает внуков на санках.
Meaning
In winter, grandpa often gives his grandchildren a ride on the sled.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Зимой дедушка часто катает внуков на санках.
часто
often
на
on, at / by (transport) / to (a place) / to (in answer to)
дедушка
grandfather
зимой
in winter
Questions & Answers about Зимой дедушка часто катает внуков на санках.
Why use the multidirectional катает instead of the unidirectional катит here?
The word часто (often) shows this is a repeated, habitual action. For repeated trips, or moving around in multiple directions for fun rather than going straight from point A to point B, you must use the multidirectional verb катать.
I previously learned the phrase кататься на санках for sledding. Why doesn't the verb have the -ся ending here?
The reflexive кататься means to ride for your own pleasure (for example, if the grandchildren were sledding themselves). However, in this sentence, grandpa is actively giving someone else a ride. Because he is conveying a direct object (внуков), you must use the transitive, non-reflexive verb катать.
Why is внуков used here? It looks like the genitive case.
It is actually the accusative plural, acting as the direct object of катает. Because grandchildren are animate (living beings), the accusative plural form is identical to the genitive plural.
Why do we use на санках (on the sled) rather than using the instrumental case to say he drives them by sled?
In Russian, when you convey someone or ride on recreational equipment like a sled, bike, skis, or skates, you use the preposition на followed by the prepositional case. Also, remember that санки (sled) is a plural-only noun, so санках is the prepositional plural.