Demonstratives: Этот and Тот | Russian Grammar

Russian has a clean two-way pointing system: э́тот for what is near ("this"), тот for what is far or "the other one" ("that"). Both decline like adjectives and agree with their noun in gender, number and case. That part is straightforward. The part that confuses almost every learner is a homograph: the neuter agreeing form э́то ("this", as in э́то окно́ "this window") looks identical to a completely different, invariable word э́то ("this is…", as in Э́то моя́ сестра́ "This is my sister"). They are spelled the same and they are not the same word. This page sorts the demonstratives out and, above all, untangles those two э́то.

The two demonstratives in the nominative

	Masc.	Fem.	Neuter	Plural
this (near) — э́тот	э́тот	э́та	э́то	э́ти
that (far/other) — тот	тот	та	то	те

The monosyllables (тот, та, то, те) and the masculine э́тот's first syllable carry the stress; тот, та, то, те take no stress mark.

Э́тот рестора́н намно́го лу́чше, чем тот.

This restaurant is much better than that one. (э́тот near, тот far/other)

Да́й мне э́ту ру́чку, а ту положи́ обра́тно.

Give me this pen, and put that one back. (accusative э́ту / ту, both feminine)

Full declension

Both decline as hard adjective-type pronouns. Masculine and neuter share everything except the nominative/accusative; the feminine has its own set; the plural is unified. Note the slightly irregular instrumental masculine/neuter э́тим / тем and instrumental feminine э́той / той.

Case	э́тот (this)			Plural
	Masc.	Neuter	Fem.	(all)
Nom.	э́тот	э́то	э́та	э́ти
Gen.	э́того	э́того	э́той	э́тих
Dat.	э́тому	э́тому	э́той	э́тим
Acc.	= nom./gen.*	э́то	э́ту	= nom./gen.*
Inst.	э́тим	э́тим	э́той	э́тими
Prep.	об э́том	об э́том	об э́той	об э́тих

тот declines the same way with the т- stem: тот / того́ / тому́ / тем / о том (masc.); та / той / ту (fem.); те / тех / тем / те́ми / о тех (pl.). Note the end-stress in того́, тому́, те́ми.

* Masculine and plural accusative follow the animacy rule (animate copies the genitive: э́того студе́нта, тех люде́й; inanimate copies the nominative: э́тот стол, те столы́). See the accusative animacy rule.

Я никогда́ не слы́шал об э́том го́роде.

I've never heard of this city. (prepositional э́том after об)

В тот день шёл дождь с утра́ до ве́чера.

It rained from morning till evening that day. (accusative тот in the time expression в тот день)

The crucial split: agreeing э́то vs. presentational э́то

This is the single thing to get right on this page. There are two words spelled э́то.

(1) The agreeing demonstrative neuter э́то — "this", modifying a specific neuter noun. It is just the neuter slot of the э́тот paradigm, so it only appears before (or referring to) a neuter noun, and it declines:

Э́то окно́ не закрыва́ется.

This window won't close. (agreeing neuter э́то + neuter окно́ — 'this window')

(2) The presentational / identifying э́то — "this is / these are / that is". It introduces or identifies something and is completely invariable. It stays э́то before a noun of any gender or number, and it does not decline:

Э́то моя́ сестра́.

This is my sister. (presentational э́то — invariable, even before feminine сестра́)

Э́то мой брат, а э́то — на́ши кни́ги.

This is my brother, and these are our books. (one invariable э́то for masc. брат and one for plural кни́ги)

How to tell them apart in practice:

If э́то is followed by a verb-like "is" relationship (often with a pause/dash in writing) and identifies the whole thing — "this is X" — it is the invariable one. It does not have to match the noun's gender: Э́то кни́ги, Э́то стол, Э́то моя́ сестра́.
If э́то sits inside a noun phrase as an attribute of a neuter noun — "this window", "this letter" — it is the agreeing one, and it will switch to э́тот / э́та / э́ти for other genders and numbers, and decline for case.

💡

The test: can you replace the word with "this is / these are"? Then it's the invariable presentational э́то — it never changes. If instead it pins down a particular noun ("this [noun]"), it's the agreeing demonstrative, which must match the noun (э́тот / э́та / э́то / э́ти) and decline.

Э́то пла́тье о́чень дорого́е, и э́то пла́тье мне нра́вится.

This is a very expensive dress, and I like this dress. (first э́то = presentational 'this is'; second э́то = agreeing demonstrative before neuter пла́тье)

Fixed and idiomatic uses of тот

тот carries weight beyond plain "that". A few high-frequency constructions:

тот же (са́мый) — "the same": Мы живём в том же до́ме. ("We live in the same building.")
тот, кто / то, что — "the one who / the thing that", introducing a relative clause: Тот, кто молчи́т, не всегда́ согла́сен. ("The one who stays silent doesn't always agree.")
не тот — "the wrong one" (literally "not that one"): Ты набра́л не тот но́мер. ("You dialled the wrong number.")
в то вре́мя как / тем не ме́нее — set connectives ("while / nevertheless").

Извини́те, я, ка́жется, сел не на тот по́езд.

Sorry, I think I got on the wrong train. (не тот = 'the wrong one'; accusative тот after на)

То, что ты сказа́л, о́чень ва́жно.

What you said is very important. (то, что — 'the thing that', a neuter relative pivot)

How this differs from English

English "this/that" is invariant and English "this is / these are" simply inflects the verb be. Russian asks for two things English doesn't: the demonstrative must agree and decline (э́тот стол, э́той кни́ги, в том го́роде), and Russian normally drops "is" in the present, so identification rides entirely on the invariable э́то with no verb at all (Э́то кни́га = "This is a book", literally "This — book"). That missing verb is exactly why learners try to make the presentational э́то agree: there is no other word to carry the sentence, so it feels like it should match. It doesn't — that one stays frozen.

Common Mistakes

❌ Э́та моя́ кни́га. (meaning 'This is my book')

Incorrect for 'This is my book' — the identifying 'this is' is the invariable э́то, not the agreeing э́та.

✅ Э́то моя́ кни́га.

This is my book. (presentational invariable э́то)

❌ Э́то кни́га моя́. (meaning 'this book is mine')

Word order off — to say 'this book is mine', the demonstrative agrees with the noun: Э́та кни́га моя́.

✅ Э́та кни́га моя́.

This book is mine. (agreeing demonstrative э́та + кни́га; predicate моя́)

❌ Я живу́ в э́тот до́ме.

Incorrect — after в (location) the demonstrative must take the prepositional too: в э́том до́ме.

✅ Я живу́ в э́том до́ме.

I live in this house. (prepositional э́том до́ме)

❌ Э́то студе́нты у́мные. (meaning 'these students are smart')

Mixed up — 'these students' as a phrase needs the agreeing plural э́ти; Э́то would start an identifying 'these are…' sentence.

✅ Э́ти студе́нты у́мные.

These students are smart. (agreeing plural э́ти + студе́нты)

Key Takeaways

э́тот = "this" (near), тот = "that / the other one" (far); both decline like adjectives and agree in gender, number and case.
Forms: э́тот/э́та/э́то/э́ти and тот/та/то/те; oblique э́того, э́той, э́тим, об э́том and того́, той, тем, о том.
Two words spelled э́то: the agreeing neuter demonstrative (э́то окно́ "this window", which declines) and the invariable presentational э́то (Э́то моя́ сестра́, Э́то кни́ги "this is / these are", which never changes).
Test: "this is / these are" → invariable э́то; "this [noun]" → agreeing э́тот/э́та/э́то/э́ти.
тот anchors set phrases: тот же (the same), тот, кто / то, что (the one who / the thing that), не тот (the wrong one).
Russian drops present-tense "is", so the invariable э́то alone carries identifying sentences — which is why learners wrongly try to make it agree.

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