Breakdown of Мой муж — ужасный соня, он может спать до обеда.
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
мой
my (мой, моя, моё) / mine
муж
husband
мочь
to be able to
спать
to sleep
до
before, until
обед
lunch
ужасный
terrible
соня
sleepyhead
Questions & Answers about Мой муж — ужасный соня, он может спать до обеда.
Why is it ужасный соня (masculine) when соня ends in -я, which usually marks a feminine noun?
соня is a common gender noun (общий род). These nouns typically end in -а or -я and describe a person's traits. They take masculine modifiers when referring to a male (like муж here) and feminine modifiers when referring to a female.
How would the agreement change if we were talking about a woman, for example, 'my wife'?
The noun соня stays exactly the same, but the modifiers change to match her gender. It would be: Моя жена — ужасная соня, она может спать до обеда.
Does соня have any other meanings where its gender behaves differently?
Yes! Besides meaning "sleepyhead", соня is also the word for a "dormouse" (the small rodent). When referring to the animal, it is strictly a standard feminine noun, not a common gender noun.
Why is there a dash between муж and ужасный соня?
The dash acts as the present-tense verb "is". In Russian, when both the core subject (муж) and the core predicate (соня) are nouns in the nominative case, a dash is required to separate them.
Why do we use the genitive case in до обеда?
The preposition до always requires the genitive case. It is the standard way to express "until" a certain time or event, or "before" something happens.
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