Breakdown of В гардеробе висят пальто и куртки.
и
and
пальто
coat
в
in / to (direction)
куртка
the jacket
висеть
to hang
гардероб
cloakroom
Questions & Answers about В гардеробе висят пальто и куртки.
Why is висят used here instead of a form of вешать?
English uses the same word for both the action of putting something on a hook and the state of it resting there. Russian splits these. Висеть (here conjugated as висят) is the intransitive state meaning something is currently hanging. If someone were actively hanging the coats up, you would use the transitive verbs вешать or повесить.
How do we know пальто is plural in this sentence?
Пальто is an indeclinable loanword, meaning its spelling never changes to show case or number. We can infer it means multiple coats here because it is paired with the explicitly plural noun куртки (jackets) and acts as the subject for the plural verb висят.
How would I apply this lesson's grammar to say 'Not a single coat is hanging in the cloakroom'?
You would say: В гардеробе не висит ни одного пальто. Emphatic negation requires a negated verb (не висит). The phrase for not a single coat takes the genitive case (ни одного пальто), and the verb must become singular to match the grammar of the word один.
Does гардероб refer to a piece of furniture or an actual room?
It can mean both, as well as a person's entire clothing collection. In public places like a theater or restaurant, гардероб is the cloakroom or coat check. In a private home, it can refer to a wardrobe, though the word шкаф is much more commonly used for the physical piece of furniture.
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