Это интересный случай.

This is an interesting case.

Breakdown of Это интересный случай.

• это: this
• интересный: interesting
• случай: the case

Questions & Answers about Это интересный случай.

What part of speech is это and why is it used here?

это is a neuter demonstrative pronoun meaning “this.” In sentences like Это интересный случай, it functions as the subject (or dummy subject) in place of a more specific noun. In English you’d say “This is an interesting case,” but Russian drops the copular verb “is” in the present tense.

Why is there no verb “is” in Это интересный случай?

In Russian, the present‐tense copula to be (быть) is usually omitted. The meaning “is” is understood implicitly. So Это интересный случай literally reads “This interesting case,” with “is” supplied by context.

Why is интересный in the masculine form?

Adjectives in Russian must agree with the noun they modify in gender, number, and case. Here, случай is a masculine, singular noun in the nominative case, so the adjective takes the nominative masculine singular form интересный.

What case is случай, and how can I tell?

случай is in the nominative singular case because it is the subject of the sentence and answers the question “who?” or “what?” (какой случай?). There are no prepositions or verbs requiring a different case, so it stays in nominative.

How do I pronounce Это интересный случай and where are the stresses?

Stress falls on:

• Это – first syllable: É-ta
• интересный – third syllable: in-te-RÉS-nyi
• случай – second syllable: slu-CHÁY

Approximate phonetic: [ˈɛtə ɪnʲtʲɪˈrʲesnɨj ˈslu.t͡ɕaj] or EHT-uh in-tye-RES-nih sloo-CHAI.

What’s the difference between это and этот?

• это is a demonstrative pronoun (“this”) used on its own as subject or object.
• этот is a demonstrative adjective (“this”) and must directly modify a noun, agreeing in gender/number/case (e.g., этот случай).
  You cannot simply swap это for этот in Это интересный случай, because это is acting as a standalone pronoun.

Can I change the word order, for example to Интересный случай это?

Russian word order is flexible for emphasis, but Интересный случай это sounds awkward in isolation. The neutral pattern is Это интересный случай. If you want to front интересный, you’d usually add more context or a conjunction:
• Интересный случай, но… (“An interesting case, but…”)
• Or keep the standard order to avoid confusion.

How would I turn this sentence into the past tense?

Add the past‐tense form of быть (to be). Since случай is masculine, use был:
Это был интересный случай.
(This was an interesting case.)