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Questions & Answers about Это сложное упражнение.
What does Это mean in this sentence and why is it necessary?
Это is a demonstrative pronoun used like this is or it is in English. Russian lacks a present‑tense verb “to be,” so you typically begin an identification or definition sentence with Это. Thus Это сложное упражнение literally means This is a difficult exercise.
Why is сложное ending in -ое?
In Russian adjectives agree with their nouns in gender, number, and case. Here сложное modifies упражнение, which is neuter, nominative, singular. Neuter nominative singular adjectives take the -ое ending (stem сложн‑ + -ое).
Why aren’t there any articles (a/an/the) before the noun?
Russian has no articles. Definiteness or indefiniteness is conveyed by context or by adding words like этот (this) or какое‑то (some). You simply say сложное упражнение without any article.
Can I change the word order to Это упражнение сложное? Would that sound natural?
Yes, it’s grammatically correct because сложное remains a predicate adjective. However, the most common neutral word order is Это сложное упражнение (adjective before noun). Placing сложное at the end (Это упражнение сложное) often sounds more formal or adds emphasis.
How do you pronounce Это сложное упражнение, and where do you put the stress?
Approximate phonetic: [ˈɛtə ˈsložnəjə uprəˈʐnʲenʲɪje]
Stresses: Э́то (Э́‑to), сло́жное (сло́‑zhno‑ye), упражне́ние (u‑pra‑ZHNE‑ni‑ye).
How would you say These are difficult exercises (plural) in Russian?
Use the plural nominative forms of both adjective and noun:
Это сложные упражнения
– сложные = plural of сложное
– упражнения = plural of упражнение