Breakdown of Во дворе играли девчонки.
играть
to play
двор
courtyard, yard
девчонка
the girl, the chick (informal) (f)
Questions & Answers about Во дворе играли девчонки.
What is the exact difference between девчонки, девочки, and девушки?
Девочки simply means little girls, while девушки refers to teenagers or young women. Девчонки (singular: девчонка) is a highly colloquial, informal, and often playful alternative to девочки. You will hear it constantly in casual spoken Russian to describe kids or when female friends informally address each other.
Why is девчонки spelled with an о after the ч instead of a ё?
This is a classic Russian spelling rule that often trips up learners: in noun and adjective suffixes, if the vowel after a hushing consonant (ж, ш, ч, щ) is stressed, it is always written as о (as in девчонка). If the vowel were unstressed, it would be written as е.
This lesson is about the colloquial truncated vocative. Could we use it for девчонки if we were calling out to them?
No, the truncated vocative (like dropping the last vowel to get Мам! or Свет!) only applies to singular nouns. If you were calling out to a group of girls, you would just use the standard nominative plural: Девчонки! In this specific sentence, they are the subject doing the playing anyway, not the people being addressed, so the standard nominative is required.
Why is the subject (девчонки) at the very end of the sentence?
In Russian, the most important or 'new' piece of information is usually placed at the end of the sentence. By starting with the location (Во дворе) and the verb (играли), the speaker sets the scene first, making the presence of the girls the main focus of the statement.
Learn Во дворе играли девчонки 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