Learn Hardcore Russian: Этот роман известного писателя стал моей любимой книгой. - This novel by a famous writer has become my favorite book.

Этот роман известного писателя – subject (in the nominative case)
- роман (novel) – main noun, masculine singular, nominative
- этот (this) – demonstrative pronoun, masculine singular, nominative, agrees with роман
- известного писателя (of a famous writer) – a genitive phrase modifying роман
стал – verb, past tense, masculine singular, from стать (to become)
моей любимой книгой – predicate (complement) in the instrumental case
- книгой (book) – noun, feminine singular, instrumental
- моей, любимой – adjectives/pronouns agreeing with книгой (feminine singular instrumental)

So: subject (nominative) + стал + predicate noun (instrumental).

Why is it этот роман, not это роман or эта роман?

The form of этот must agree with the noun роман in:

gender: роман is masculine
number: singular
case: nominative

So we use:

этот – masculine, nominative, singular

Other forms:

эта – feminine nominative singular (for эта книга, this book)
это – neuter nominative singular (for это письмо, this letter)

Since роман is masculine, only этот роман is correct here.

What case is известного писателя in, and why is that case used?

известного писателя is in the genitive singular.

писателя – genitive singular of писатель (writer)
известного – genitive singular masculine adjective, agreeing with писателя

The genitive is used because this phrase answers “whose novel?” → роман (кого?) известного писателя – the novel of a famous writer.

In Russian, possession or “of X” relationships are usually expressed with the genitive case:

роман известного писателя – the novel of a famous writer
книга студента – the book of the student

Why isn’t it известный писатель (nominative) instead of известного писателя?

известный писатель in the nominative would mean “the famous writer” as a standalone subject:

Известный писатель написал этот роман. – A famous writer wrote this novel.

In our sentence, писатель is not a separate subject; it’s part of a phrase that modifies роман and shows possession:

роман известного писателя – the novel of a famous writer

That “of” relationship is expressed by the genitive in Russian, so both words must be in the genitive:

известного (gen. masc. sing.)
писателя (gen. masc. sing.)

If you said Этот роман известный писатель стал…, it would be ungrammatical and the structure would not make sense.

Why does известного agree with писателя and not with роман?

In Russian, adjectives agree with the specific noun they directly describe.

Here, известного писателя is a single noun phrase:

main noun: писателя (writer, genitive singular masculine)
adjective: известного (famous, genitive singular masculine)

Together they answer “кого?” (of whom?) after роман:

роман (кого?) известного писателя

So известного must match писателя (not роман) in:

gender: masculine
number: singular
case: genitive

Why is the verb стал used instead of был? What’s the difference in meaning?

Both стал and был are past tense forms, but they express different ideas:

стал – from стать, means “became” (a change of state)
был – from быть, means “was” (a state in the past, no focus on change)

In the sentence:

Этот роман … стал моей любимой книгой.
→ This novel became my favourite book. (It wasn’t before; now it is.)

If you used был instead:

Этот роман … был моей любимой книгой.
→ This novel was my favourite book. (Just describing a past fact; not emphasizing the moment of becoming.)

The original sentence focuses on the transition: at some point, this novel became your favorite.

Why is the verb form стал masculine? Could it be стала or стало?

In the past tense, Russian verbs agree in gender and number with the subject.

Subject: роман – masculine singular.
So the past tense must be:

стал – masculine singular

Other forms:

стала – feminine singular (for книга стала…)
стало – neuter singular (for письмо стало…)
стали – plural (for романы стали…)

Since роман is masculine, стал is the only correct choice here.

Why is моей любимой книгой in the instrumental case, and not nominative or accusative?

After verbs like быть (to be) and стать (to become), Russian often uses the instrumental case for the predicate noun (what something is or becomes).

Pattern:

X стал Y-ом / Y-ой (X became Y)

In the sentence:

Этот роман … стал моей любимой книгой.
- моей любимой книгой – instrumental singular feminine

So:

книга → instrumental: книгой
моя → instrumental fem.: моей
любимая → instrumental fem.: любимой

You cannot say стал моя любимая книга (nominative) in standard Russian; with стать in this meaning, the instrumental is required.

Can you break down the forms моей, любимой, книгой (gender, case, number)?

Yes:

книгой
- dictionary form: книга (book)
- gender: feminine
- number: singular
- case: instrumental
- ending: -ой → typical for feminine singular instrumental of -а nouns
моей
- dictionary form: моя (my, feminine)
- gender: feminine
- number: singular
- case: instrumental (same form as dative/genitive feminine)
- agrees with книгой
любимой
- dictionary form: любимая (favourite, beloved – feminine form)
- gender: feminine
- number: singular
- case: instrumental
- agrees with книгой

All three words form one phrase and must match in gender, number, and case: feminine singular instrumental.

Why is it книгой and not книгу or книга?

The choice of ending depends on the case, which is determined by grammar, not by English word order.

книга – nominative (subject form)
книгу – accusative (direct object form)
книгой – instrumental (used with стать/быть in this pattern)

In стал моей любимой книгой, the word книгой is:

not a subject (so not nominative книга)
not a direct object (so not accusative книгу)
a predicate complement after стал → must be instrumental: книгой

What is the difference between роман and книга here? Why use both “novel” and “book”?

Russian, like English, can distinguish between a type of work and a physical book:

роман – a novel, a specific literary genre (long fictional narrative)
книга – book, more general; can be any book, any genre

In Этот роман известного писателя стал моей любимой книгой the idea is:

This particular novel (of a famous writer) has become my favourite book (of all books).

So:

роман identifies what kind of work it is.
книга expresses your personal ranking or preference among all books you’ve read.

It would sound odd to say стал моим любимым романом if you mean “my favourite book in general”; that would mean “my favourite novel (among novels).”

Can I change the word order, for example: Этот роман стал моей любимой книгой известного писателя?

You can change the word order in Russian, but it may change what sounds natural or what is emphasized.

Original:
- Этот роман известного писателя стал моей любимой книгой.
  Focus: this novel, and we specify whose: of a famous writer. Very natural.
Этот роман стал моей любимой книгой известного писателя.
This sounds awkward or even confusing, as if известного писателя might be modifying книгой (my favourite book of a famous writer), which doesn’t quite fit the intended meaning.

More natural alternatives that keep the same meaning:

Роман этого известного писателя стал моей любимой книгой.
Этот роман этого известного писателя стал моей любимой книгой. (more emphatic, a bit heavy)

So yes, word order is flexible, but you must keep phrases like известного писателя close to the noun they modify (роман) to avoid confusion.

How is this sentence pronounced, and where are the stresses?

With stressed syllables marked:

Э́тот рома́н изве́стного писа́теля ста́л мое́й люби́мой кни́гой.

Syllable by syllable:

Э́тот – stress on Э́
рома́н – stress on ма́
изве́стного – stress on ве́
(unstressed о becomes a reduced sound, like uh)
писа́теля – stress on са́
ста́л – stress on ста́ (only syllable)
мое́й – stress on е́й
люби́мой – stress on би́
кни́гой – stress on кни́

Pronunciation tip: in fast speech, unstressed о often sounds like a or a reduced uh; for example, известного sounds roughly like iz-VYES-tnava.