Breakdown of Давайте посмотрим, как сверкает изумруд!
как
how
посмотреть
to watch (perfective) / to look at (perfective)
давай
let's (informal)
изумруд
emerald
Questions & Answers about Давайте посмотрим, как сверкает изумруд!
Why is the verb сверкает before the subject изумруд in the second clause?
In Russian subordinate clauses starting with words like как (how) or что (that), it is very common to invert the subject and verb. Placing сверкает before изумруд shifts the focus slightly onto the emerald itself at the end of the sentence, making it sound much more natural and expressive than как изумруд сверкает.
Why is давайте followed by the conjugated verb посмотрим instead of an infinitive?
When making a 'Let's...' suggestion in Russian, the grammar changes based on the verb's aspect. For imperfective actions, you use давайте + the infinitive (like давайте смотреть). But for perfective actions, which denote a completed result, you must use давайте + the first-person plural future tense (посмотрим). Here, 'taking a look' is a single, perfective action.
Why do we use the perfective посмотрим but the imperfective сверкает in the same sentence?
The aspects match the reality of the two different actions. We are going to take a single, focused look at the stone (hence the perfective посмотрим). However, the sparkling of the emerald is an ongoing, continuous state that is happening while we look at it, which is why сверкает is imperfective.