Breakdown of Под ковром ползало много странных жуков и гусениц, и мы чуть не закричали.
и
and
мы
we
много
a lot
странный
strange
под
under
ковёр
rug
закричать
to shout (perfective)
чуть не
almost (narrowly)
ползать
to crawl around
жук
beetle
гусеница
caterpillar
Questions & Answers about Под ковром ползало много странных жуков и гусениц, и мы чуть не закричали.
Why does this sentence use the multidirectional verb ползало instead of the unidirectional ползло?
Ползать is the multidirectional verb for crawling. Here, the bugs are moving around in various directions or aimlessly under the rug. If they were crawling in a single straight line towards a specific destination, you would use the unidirectional form, ползло.
Why is the verb ползало in the neuter singular form when the bugs and caterpillars are plural?
In Russian, when the subject of a sentence is a quantity word like много (many) or несколько (several) followed by a genitive noun, the verb generally takes the neuter singular form in the past tense. You can sometimes use the plural (ползали) for living creatures to emphasize their individual actions, but the neuter singular (ползало) is very common because it treats the swarm as a single mass.
Why do we use the instrumental case in под ковром when verbs of motion usually trigger the accusative for destinations?
The preposition под takes the instrumental case when describing a location (answering "where?"). Even though the bugs are in motion, their movement is contained entirely within the space under the rug. If they had crawled from the open floor to underneath the rug (a change of location answering "to where?"), you would use the accusative case: под ковёр.
Why is there a не in чуть не закричали if the English translation says we "almost screamed"?
The set phrase чуть не means "almost" or "nearly" when describing an action that barely failed to happen. It is paired with a perfective past tense verb. Literally, it translates to "by a little bit, we didn't scream" — which means you came very close to screaming, but ultimately stopped yourself.
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