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Questions & Answers about Какая цена этого билета?
What does Какая mean in this sentence, and why is it in the feminine form?
Какая is an interrogative adjective meaning “what” or “which.” It takes the feminine singular form to agree with цена, which is a feminine noun in the nominative case.
Why is цена in the nominative case?
Here цена functions like the subject of the implied question “What is the price?” In Russian, when you ask about the identity or quality of something, that noun remains in the nominative case.
Why do we use этого билета in the genitive case, and how do you decline этот билет?
When you say “the price of something,” the “something” goes into the partitive/genitive case to show “of.”
• Билет (ticket) is masculine; its genitive singular is билета.
• The demonstrative этот agrees in case, number, and gender, so it becomes этого (masculine genitive).
Declension of этот билет (singular):
• Nom.: этот билет
• Gen.: этого билета
• Dat.: этому билету
• Acc.: этот билет
• Inst.: этим билетом
• Prep.: этом билете
How would you answer this question in Russian? Provide some sample responses with prices.
You can answer in several ways:
• Цена этого билета – 500 рублей.
• Пятьсот рублей.
• Этот билет стоит 500 рублей.
Remember: after numerals 5 and above, рублей (genitive plural) is required.
Is there a more commonly used alternative to Какая цена этого билета?
Yes—Russians often say Сколько стоит этот билет? (“How much does this ticket cost?”). It’s more colloquial, but both forms are perfectly correct.
Can you omit этого and just say Какая цена билета? Is that correct?
Yes. If the context already makes clear which ticket you mean, Какая цена билета? is acceptable. Using этого simply adds specificity: “this ticket.”
Could the word order be changed, for example, to Цена этого билета какая?
Although understandable, Цена этого билета какая? sounds awkward. The natural pattern for such questions is Какая цена + (чего), with the interrogative adjective first.
Why is there no preposition equivalent to English “of” in price of this ticket?
Russian indicates relationships like “of” by putting the related noun into the genitive case, without using a separate preposition. Here, этого билета (genitive) expresses “of this ticket.”
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