Breakdown of Сестру укачивает на корабле, поэтому она летает самолётом.
сестра
sister
она
she / it (for a feminine noun)
поэтому
so (therefore)
корабль
ship
Questions & Answers about Сестру укачивает на корабле, поэтому она летает самолётом.
Why is the sister in the accusative case (сестру) instead of the nominative (сестра)?
In Russian, motion sickness is expressed with an impersonal construction. The verb укачивает (to rock or make nauseous) doesn't take a grammatical subject here. Literally, the sentence says it makes the sister sick, so сестру is the direct object receiving the action.
Does укачивает only mean getting seasick?
No, укачивает is the general verb for experiencing any kind of motion sickness. You can use it for cars (в машине), planes (в самолёте), or ships. Interestingly, its core meaning is to rock a baby to sleep, but here it describes the unpleasant rocking motion of travel.
Why is летает used instead of летит?
Летает is a multidirectional verb of motion. It is used here because traveling by plane is a general preference or repeated habit for her, rather than a single, specific trip happening right now, which would require the unidirectional verb летит.
Could we say на самолёте instead of самолётом?
Yes, both are perfectly correct and common. Using the instrumental case (самолётом) emphasizes the plane as the means or instrument of transportation, while на самолёте (prepositional case) focuses more on the method of travel by describing it as a location.