Breakdown of Наша мечта — поехать на маленький остров в тёплом океане.
маленький
small
в
in
на
to
поехать
to go
Questions & Answers about Наша мечта — поехать на маленький остров в тёплом океане.
Why is there a dash in Наша мечта — поехать…? Is something “missing” there?
The dash is standing in for the verb “to be” in the present tense.
In Russian, the present-tense form of быть (“to be”) is usually omitted in simple “X is Y” sentences:
- Наша мечта — поехать…
Literally: Our dream — to go…
Meaning: Our dream is to go…
You could imagine a “hidden” есть (the present tense of быть):
- Наша мечта (есть) поехать…
The dash:
- is very common when both sides are nouns / noun phrases / infinitives,
- helps show the “X = Y” relationship clearly,
- is optional in speech, but preferred in writing here.
So nothing is missing grammatically; Russian just doesn’t use “is” in this kind of present-tense sentence.
Why поехать and not ехать or ездить?