Чей это телефон?

this

Breakdown of Чей это телефон?

• телефон: the phone
• чей: whose

Questions & Answers about Чей это телефон?

Why is Чей used instead of Кто?

Чей is the Russian interrogative adjective that asks about ownership, meaning whose. Кто means who and is used to identify a person, not to ask about possession.

What is the function of это in this sentence?

Это is a demonstrative pronoun meaning this. In Чей это телефон?, it points to the specific object (the phone) whose owner you want to identify.

Why is телефон in the nominative case here?

The question is structured like an implied statement “this phone is whose,” so телефон serves as the grammatical subject and stays in the nominative case. Consequently, чей also appears in the nominative masculine singular to agree with телефон.

Why don’t we use a verb like есть or является?

In the present tense, Russian usually omits the verb “to be” (for example, есть or является) in simple identification or possession sentences. So you simply ask Чей это телефон? without including an explicit verb.

Can we say Это чей телефон? instead?