Breakdown of Как только сыровар положит сыр в погреб, он вернётся спустя месяц.
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
в
in / to (direction)
месяц
month
сыр
cheese
вернуться
to return (pf)
положить
to put (down)
как только
as soon as
сыровар
cheesemaker
погреб
cellar
спустя
after / later (a period of time)
Questions & Answers about Как только сыровар положит сыр в погреб, он вернётся спустя месяц.
The lesson focuses on спустя. Why is месяц in the accusative case here?
The preposition спустя (meaning "after" or "later") always requires the accusative case. Here, месяц is the accusative form of a masculine inanimate noun, which happens to look identical to its nominative form.
Can спустя be placed after the time period, like месяц спустя?
Yes! The word спустя is unique in Russian because it can act as either a preposition (before the noun, спустя месяц) or a postposition (after the noun, месяц спустя). Both mean "a month later" and are completely interchangeable here.
The English translation says "puts" (present tense), so why does the Russian sentence use the future tense положит?
In English, time clauses starting with "as soon as" use the present tense even when referring to a future event. Russian is more strictly logical: since the putting will happen in the future, it requires the future tense. The phrase как только combined with the perfective verb положит emphasizes that this action must be entirely completed before the next action begins.
Why do we use the accusative case в погреб instead of the prepositional case to say "in the cellar"?
Because the verb положит (will put) implies motion toward a destination. When expressing the direction of an action rather than a static location, the preposition в takes the accusative case. If the cheese were simply sitting in the cellar, you would use the prepositional case (в погребе).
Learn Как только сыровар положит сыр в погреб, он вернётся спустя месяц and more in Russian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free