Questions & Answers about Этот чемодан тяжёлый.
Этот means “this” for a masculine singular noun.
Russian has four basic forms of “this”:
- этот – this (masculine singular)
- этот чемодан – this suitcase
- эта – this (feminine singular)
- эта книга – this book
- это – this (neuter singular)
- это окно – this window
- эти – these (plural, for any gender)
- эти чемоданы – these suitcases
You must choose the form based on the gender and number of the noun, not on what you feel in English.
Because чемодан is a masculine noun in Russian.
- этот is the masculine form of “this”
- эта is the feminine form
Since чемодан is masculine, it must use the masculine demonstrative: этот чемодан.
If the noun were feminine, you’d use эта:
- эта сумка тяжёлая – this bag is heavy (сумка is feminine)
For most Russian nouns:
- Nouns ending in a consonant (like -н, -т, -р) are usually masculine.
- Nouns ending in -а / -я are usually feminine.
- Nouns ending in -о / -е are usually neuter.
Чемодан ends in -н (a consonant), so it follows the standard pattern and is masculine.
When in doubt, check a dictionary: it will usually mark the gender (м. for masculine, ж. for feminine, ср. for neuter).
In Russian, the verb “to be” in the present tense (the equivalent of English “is / am / are”) is normally omitted in simple statements.
So:
- Этот чемодан тяжёлый.
literally: “This suitcase heavy.”
meaning: “This suitcase is heavy.”
This is completely normal and correct. You only see an explicit form like есть in special contexts (emphasis, existence, contrast), not as a regular “is” in simple present-tense sentences.
You can, but it is not the neutral way to say “This suitcase is heavy.”
- Этот чемодан тяжёлый. – neutral, normal statement.
- Этот чемодан есть тяжёлый. – sounds emphatic, like “This suitcase really is heavy (as opposed to what you think / compared to others).”
In everyday speech, for a simple description, you should not use есть. Just say Этот чемодан тяжёлый.
Тяжёлый is an adjective. Russian adjectives must agree with the noun in:
- gender (masculine / feminine / neuter)
- number (singular / plural)
- case (here: nominative)
Чемодан is masculine singular nominative (the subject of the sentence).
The standard masculine nominative singular adjective ending is -ый (or -ий in some adjectives), so:
- masculine: тяжёлый чемодан – heavy suitcase
- feminine: тяжёлая сумка – heavy bag
- neuter: тяжёлое кресло – heavy armchair
- plural: тяжёлые чемоданы – heavy suitcases
In your sentence, the subject is masculine singular (чемодан), so the adjective is тяжёлый.
Here are the basic nominative forms of тяжёлый (“heavy”):
- Masculine singular: тяжёлый
- тяжёлый чемодан – a heavy suitcase
- Feminine singular: тяжёлая
- тяжёлая сумка – a heavy bag
- Neuter singular: тяжёлое
- тяжёлое кресло – a heavy armchair
- Plural (all genders): тяжёлые
- тяжёлые сумки – heavy bags
- тяжёлые чемоданы – heavy suitcases
In sentences:
- Эта сумка тяжёлая. – This bag is heavy.
- Это кресло тяжёлое. – This armchair is heavy.
- Эти чемоданы тяжёлые. – These suitcases are heavy.
Approximate pronunciation with stress marks:
- Этот – Э́т-ат → [É-tat] (both о are reduced; sounds close to É-tat)
- чемодан – чемода́н → [chee-ma-DÁN], but with Russian vowel reduction: [чʲɪ-ма-да́н]
- тяжёлый – тяжё́лый → [tya-ZHYÓ-lyy], more exactly [тʲɪ-жё-лый]
In one line (approximate English-style transcription):
- Этот чемодан тяжёлый → [État che-ma-DÁN tya-ZHYÓ-lyy]
Key points:
- ё is always stressed and sounds like “yo” (as in тяжёлый = tya-*zh-YO*-ly).
- Unstressed о often sounds like “a” (as in чемодан).
Yes, тяжелый and тяжёлый are the same word.
In printed Russian, the letter ё is frequently written as е, especially in non-children’s texts. Native speakers know from context and from habit when е should be read as ё.
So:
- spelled: тяжёлый or тяжелый
- pronounced: [тяжёлый] – tya-ZHYÓ-lyy, always with yo and with stress on that syllable.
When you write for learning purposes, it’s good to keep ё to remember the correct pronunciation.
Тяжёлый primarily means “heavy” (physically):
- тяжёлый чемодан – a heavy suitcase
But it can also describe things that are emotionally or mentally difficult, burdensome, hard to endure:
- тяжёлый день – a hard day
- тяжёлая работа – hard (physically demanding) work
- тяжёлый характер – a difficult character (personality)
- тяжёлая болезнь – a serious, severe illness
For “difficult” in the sense of intellectually hard, Russian often uses трудный or сложный:
- трудный / сложный экзамен – a difficult exam
So тяжёлый = “heavy; burdensome, hard to bear,” while трудный / сложный = “difficult (to do/understand).”
Yes, Russian word order is more flexible than English, but it affects emphasis.
Этот чемодан тяжёлый.
– Neutral: “This suitcase is heavy.”Чемодан тяжёлый.
– More general: “The suitcase is heavy.” (no “this”)
– If context is clear, this can sound like a simple statement of fact.Этот чемодан тяжёлый. vs Чемодан этот тяжёлый.
- Чемодан этот тяжёлый. puts a bit more focus on этот (“this one in particular”).
- Roughly: “This suitcase, it’s heavy (as opposed to another one).”
Тяжёлый этот чемодан.
- Emphasis on тяжёлый: “Heavy, this suitcase!”
- Feels more expressive or emotional.
For neutral, beginner-level speech, Этот чемодан тяжёлый is the best choice.
Both are demonstratives, but they indicate different distance (or mental distance):
этот чемодан – this suitcase
- Usually closer to the speaker (physically or in focus).
тот чемодан – that suitcase
- Usually farther away, or less in focus, or a different one being contrasted.
Examples:
- Возьми этот чемодан, а не тот.
– Take this suitcase, not that one.
Your sentence with тот:
- Тот чемодан тяжёлый. – That suitcase is heavy.
You need to make all three words plural:
- эти – plural of этот/эта/это (“these”)
- чемоданы – plural of чемодан (“suitcases”)
- тяжёлые – plural of тяжёлый (“heavy”)
So the sentence is:
- Эти чемоданы тяжёлые. – These suitcases are heavy.