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Сегодня первое число.

Сегодня первое число.
Today is the first (of the month).

Breakdown of Сегодня первое число.

сегодня
today
первый
first
число
date (day of the month)
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Questions & Answers about Сегодня первое число.

Why is it первое (neuter) and not первый or первая?

Because первое agrees with the noun число, which is neuter (оно). In Russian, ordinal numbers behave like adjectives and must match the noun in gender, number, and case:

  • первое число (neuter)
  • первый день (masculine)
  • первая неделя (feminine)
What does число mean here? Is it literally “number”?

Yes, literally число = number, but in everyday Russian число also means the calendar date (day of the month).
So Сегодня первое число means “Today is the first (of the month).”

Why is there no verb like “is” in the sentence?

In the present tense Russian usually omits the verb to be (есть).
So Сегодня первое число is essentially “Today (is) the first date.”
You can say Сегодня есть первое число, but it sounds unnatural in normal conversation.

What case are первое and число in?

They are in the nominative because this is a simple naming/identifying pattern:
Сегодня + (noun phrase naming what “today” is)
So: первое число = nominative predicate phrase.

Can I shorten it to just Сегодня первое?

Yes, very commonly. Сегодня первое is natural because число is easily understood from context (especially when talking about dates).
You’ll also hear answers like:

  • Первое.
  • Первое марта. (if the month is relevant)
How would I add the month (e.g., “Today is March 1st”)?

A very common pattern is:

  • Сегодня первое марта.
    Here первое stays nominative neuter, and the month is usually in the genitive: марта, апреля, мая, etc.
How do you ask the question that this sentence answers?

Most commonly:

  • Какое сегодня число? = “What’s the date today?” (literally: “Which date is it today?”)

And you can answer:

  • Сегодня первое (число).
  • Первое марта.
Is word order fixed? Could I say Первое число сегодня?

The neutral, most common order is Сегодня первое число.
But Russian word order is flexible:

  • Первое число сегодня can work, but it sounds more like emphasis (“It’s the first today…”), and is less neutral.
  • Сегодня первое число is what you’d normally say.
Why is it первое число, not первый or a cardinal number like один?

Dates in Russian normally use ordinal numbers (first, second, third…), not cardinal numbers (one, two, three…).
So you say первое (число), второе, третье, etc., not один in this context.

How is Сегодня первое число pronounced (roughly)?

A rough pronunciation guide:

  • Сегодня ≈ sye-VOD-nya (stress on -вод-)
  • первое ≈ PER-va-ye (two syllables after пер-)
  • число ≈ chi-SLO (stress on -сло)