Жареный картофель вкусный.

Fried potatoes are tasty.

Breakdown of Жареный картофель вкусный.

• вкусный: tasty
• картофель: the potato
• жареный: fried

Questions & Answers about Жареный картофель вкусный.

1. Why is there no word for “is” in Жареный картофель вкусный?

Russian usually omits the verb “to be” (быть) in the present tense.
So:

• Жареный картофель вкусный literally = “Fried potato tasty.”
• The meaning is understood as “Fried potatoes are tasty.”

If you added есть (“is/are”) here – Жареный картофель есть вкусный – it would sound wrong in normal modern Russian. Есть in this sense is only used in the past/future or for special emphatic or archaic styles.

2. Why is there no “a/the” before жареный картофель?

Russian has no articles at all. It doesn’t use words like “a”, “an”, “the”.

Whether you translate жареный картофель as:

• fried potatoes
• fried potato
• the fried potatoes
• the fried potato dish

…depends entirely on context, not on any special marker in Russian. The Russian noun phrase stays the same: жареный картофель.

3. Why does картофель look singular when English uses the plural “potatoes”?