Это страдательное причастие.

This is a passive participle.

Breakdown of Это страдательное причастие.

• это: this
• страдательный: passive
• причастие: the participle

Questions & Answers about Это страдательное причастие.

What are the subject and predicate in Это страдательное причастие?

Grammatically, это functions as the subject-like element, and страдательное причастие is the predicate (a predicate noun phrase).
You can think of it as equivalent to Это (есть) страдательное причастие – есть (is) is just usually omitted in the present tense.
So the structure is: Это = “this/it”, страдательное причастие = “a passive participle” (what “this/it” is).

Why is it это, not этот, эта, or это страдательное причастие with agreement?

Here это is not an agreeing adjective; it’s a special pronoun used in sentences of identification or classification: Это X = This is X / It is X.
In this use, это has a fixed form and does not change for gender or number of the noun that follows.
By contrast, этот / эта / это / эти are demonstrative adjectives used before nouns: это причастие = this participle, where это agrees in gender and number with причастие.

What case are страдательное and причастие in, and why?

Both страдательное and причастие are in the nominative singular neuter.
In Russian, in simple X is Y sentences, both X and Y typically appear in the nominative case: Это (есть) что? → страдательное причастие.
So страдательное причастие is a nominative predicate that tells us what это is.

What gender is причастие, and why does страдательное have the ending -ое?

Причастие is a neuter noun. Most nouns ending in -ие (e.g. задание, сообщение, училище, причастие) are neuter.
The adjective страдательное must agree with причастие in gender, number, and case, so it takes the neuter nominative singular ending -ое.
That’s why we have страдательное причастие, not страдательный причастие or страдательная причастие.

Where is the verb “is” in this sentence? Why is nothing like есть written?

In modern Russian, the present-tense form of быть (to be), that is есть, is usually omitted in simple X is Y sentences.
So Это страдательное причастие is understood as Это (есть) страдательное причастие.
You normally only see есть in special emphatic, contrastive, or older/literary styles.

Can I change the word order, for example to Страдательное причастие — это …?

Yes. Both are correct, but they have slightly different information structure:

• Это страдательное причастие. – neutral statement, often used when introducing or identifying something: This is a passive participle.
• Страдательное причастие — это … – puts more emphasis on страдательное причастие as the topic/definition: A passive participle is …

You would choose the version that fits what you want to emphasize.

Could I say Оно страдательное причастие instead of Это страдательное причастие?

Normally, no; this sounds unnatural in standard Russian.
Оно is a personal pronoun used when the specific neuter noun is already clear: Это причастие. Оно страдательное. – This participle. It is passive.
But for a standalone classification statement like This is a passive participle, Russian prefers Это страдательное причастие, not Оно страдательное причастие.

Does страдательное really mean “suffering”? Is there a connection with страдать?

Yes, страдательное is historically related to страдать (to suffer, to undergo).
In grammar, страдательный залог is passive voice, and страдательное причастие literally means something like “suffering/undergoing participle” – i.e. a participle whose subject undergoes the action.
So the everyday meaning (suffering) and the grammatical meaning (passive) are connected, but in grammar contexts you should understand страдательный / страдательное as passive.

How do you pronounce Это страдательное причастие? Where is the stress?

Stressed syllables marked in bold:

• Э́то – Э́-то
• страда́тельное – стра-да́-тель-но-е
• прича́стие – при-ча́-стие

So in full: Э́то страда́тельное прича́стие.

How do I say this in the plural, e.g. “These are passive participles”?

You would say: Это страдательные причастия.
Changes compared to the singular:

• страдательное → страдательные (adjective: plural nominative)
• причастие → причастия (noun: plural nominative)
• это stays the same; in this kind of sentence это can correspond to both this is and these are.

Why are the words all in lowercase? In English we sometimes capitalize grammatical terms.

In Russian, names of parts of speech and grammatical categories are normally not capitalized: существительное, глагол, страдательное причастие, прошедшее время, etc.
You only capitalize them at the beginning of a sentence or if they are part of a title.
So lowercase страдательное причастие is the standard, correct spelling.