| Grammar Notes: 1. Даже (Da-zhe) - "Even" This word is used to emphasize something unexpected or surprising. 2. клоуны (klou-ny) - "clowns" This is the plural form of "клоун" (kloun), which means "clown." 3. проливают (pro-li-va-yut) - "shed" or "spill" This verb is in the third person plural present tense form. The root is "проливать" (pro-li-vat'), meaning "to shed" or "to spill." 4. слезы (sle-zy) - "tears" This is the plural form of "слеза" (sle-za), which means "tear." 5. когда (ko-gda) - "when" This conjunction introduces a subordinate clause and indicates the time of the action. 6. никто (ni-kto) - "no one" or "nobody" This pronoun means "nobody" or "no one" and is used in negative sentences. 7. не (ne) - "not" This particle is used to form negative sentences. 8. смотрит (smot-rit) - "is watching" This verb is in the third person singular present tense form. The root is "смотреть" (smo-tret'), meaning "to watch." ### Grammar Tip: In Russian, the placement of words in a sentence can be more flexible than in English due to the use of cases, which show the grammatical role of each word. However, the subject-verb-object order is still common. In this sentence, "Даже клоуны проливают слезы, когда никто не смотрит," the subject is "клоуны" (clowns), the verb is "проливают" (shed), and the object is "слезы" (tears). The clause introduced by "когда" (when) has its own subject "никто" (no one) and verb "смотрит" (is watching). ### Related Words: - клоунский (kloun-skiy) - "clownish" (adjective form of clown) - смеяться (sme-yat'sya) - "to laugh" (another verb that clowns might be associated with) - плакать (pla-kat') - "to cry" (a synonym for проливать слезы but can be used intransitively) |
