Breakdown of Эта леди приехала из Лондона.
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
приехать
to arrive (by transport, pf)
леди
lady (f, indeclinable)
Questions & Answers about Эта леди приехала из Лондона.
Why doesn't леди change its ending in this sentence, and how do we determine its gender?
леди is an indeclinable foreign noun. In Russian, borrowed nouns ending in a vowel other than -а or -я (such as -и, -о, -у) generally do not change their endings. We know it is feminine because it refers to a biological female, which dictates the feminine demonstrative Эта and the feminine past tense verb приехала.
Since Лондон is also a foreign word, why does it decline to Лондона while леди stays the same?
The declension rule for foreign words depends heavily on their ending. Because Лондон ends in a hard consonant, Russian easily absorbs it into the standard masculine declension pattern. It takes the normal genitive -а ending here after the preposition. Foreign words generally only become indeclinable when they have atypical noun endings for their gender, like леди ending in -и.
Could I use с instead of из to say from London?
No, because prepositions of direction work in strict pairs. You go to a city using в (like в Лондон), and the exact return opposite of в is always из. You only use с to mean from when the destination takes на (for example, на работу pairs with с работы).
What exactly does the prefix при- add to the base verb ехала here?
The base verb ехала refers to a one-way motion in progress (was going or driving). Adding the prefix при- specifies arrival. So, приехала specifically means she arrived or came by transport. If you wanted to focus on the fact that she departed or left London, you would use the prefix у- to make уехала.
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