Breakdown of На складе сотня пустых коробок.
на
on, at / by (transport) / to (a place) / to (in answer to)
пустой
empty
коробка
box (cardboard)
склад
warehouse
сотня
hundred
Questions & Answers about На складе сотня пустых коробок.
Why use the noun сотня instead of the number сто here?
While сто is the exact number 100, сотня is a feminine noun meaning a hundred or a collective group of a hundred. In everyday speech, сотня is often used for approximation or to emphasize a large batch. Since it is a noun expressing quantity, it requires the following adjectives and nouns to be in the genitive plural, giving us пустых коробок.
How is коробок the genitive plural of коробка? Why is there an extra O?
Feminine nouns ending in -а generally take a zero ending in the genitive plural. Dropping the -а from коробка leaves the awkward consonant cluster -бк at the end of the word. To make it pronounceable, Russian inserts a fleeting vowel (in this case, о) between the consonants, resulting in коробок.
Why is the preposition на used with складе rather than в?
The noun склад (warehouse or storage) is one of the specific locations that traditionally pairs with the preposition на rather than в. You can think of it historically as an open loading dock or a designated area rather than a strictly enclosed building.
Why is there no translation for the words 'there are' in the Russian sentence?
In Russian, the present-tense verb 'to be' is normally omitted when simply describing a scene or stating where things are located. The verb есть would only be added if you needed to emphasize the actual existence or possession of the boxes, rather than just stating their quantity on the warehouse floor.
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