В этом слове одна лишняя буква.

There is one extra letter in this word.

Breakdown of В этом слове одна лишняя буква.

• в: in
• слово: the word
• этот: this
• один: one
• лишний: extra
• буква: the letter

Questions & Answers about В этом слове одна лишняя буква.

Why is слове used instead of слово?

Because the preposition в here means in, and after в with this meaning, Russian normally uses the prepositional case.

• dictionary form: слово = word
• prepositional singular: слове = in the word

So:

• слово = word
• в слове = in the word

That is why the sentence begins with В этом слове = In this word.

Why is it в этом слове and not в этой слове or в этом слово?

Because этот (this) must agree with the noun it describes.

The noun слово is:

• neuter
• singular
• here in the prepositional case

So этот changes to the matching form:

• nominative: это слово / этот as base form
• prepositional neuter singular: в этом слове

Agreement is very important in Russian. The demonstrative этот changes for:

• gender
• number
• case

Here everything matches: в этом слове.

Why is there no verb? Shouldn’t Russian say something like there is?

In Russian, the verb to be is often omitted in the present tense.

So the sentence literally looks like:

• In this word one extra letter

But it naturally means:

• There is one extra letter in this word.

Russian often leaves out есть in simple present-tense statements, especially when identifying or describing something.

So both of these are possible:

• В этом слове одна лишняя буква.
• В этом слове есть одна лишняя буква.

The version without есть is very normal and natural.

Can I say В этом слове есть одна лишняя буква?

Yes, absolutely.

Both are correct:

• В этом слове одна лишняя буква.
• В этом слове есть одна лишняя буква.

The version without есть is often more neutral and concise.
The version with есть can sound a little more explicit, like stressing the existence of the extra letter.

In many everyday sentences, Russian prefers the shorter version without есть.

Why is it одна, not один?

Because буква is a feminine noun.

The numeral one changes like an adjective and agrees with the noun:

• один for masculine
• одна for feminine
• одно for neuter

Since буква is feminine, we say:

• одна буква = one letter

So:

• одна лишняя буква

is correct because both одна and лишняя agree with буква.

Why is лишняя feminine?

Because it describes буква, and adjectives in Russian must agree with the noun they describe.

The noun буква is:

• feminine
• singular
• nominative here

So the adjective лишний changes to:

• лишняя

Compare:

• лишний символ = an extra symbol
• лишняя буква = an extra letter
• лишнее слово = an extra word

This is standard adjective agreement.

What exactly does лишний mean here?

Here лишний means extra, unnecessary, or one too many.

So лишняя буква means:

• an extra letter
• an unnecessary letter
• a letter that should not be there

In this sentence, it does not mean that the letter is strange by itself. It means the word contains a letter that should be removed.

Why is буква in the nominative case?

Because it is the main noun phrase of the sentence: одна лишняя буква.

In a sentence like this, where Russian omits is/there is, the noun naming what exists or what is being identified often appears in the nominative:

• одна лишняя буква

So the structure is roughly:

• В этом слове = location
• одна лишняя буква = what is there

That is why буква is nominative singular.

Is the word order important? Could I change it?

Russian word order is fairly flexible, but the original order is the most neutral:

• В этом слове одна лишняя буква.

This naturally presents the location first and then the information about it.

Other orders are possible, but they change emphasis:

• Одна лишняя буква в этом слове.
  This emphasizes one extra letter first.

• Лишняя буква в этом слове одна.
  This sounds marked and unusual in most contexts.

For a learner, the safest version is the original one.

Could I leave out одна and say В этом слове лишняя буква?

Yes, you can.

• В этом слове одна лишняя буква. = There is one extra letter in this word.
• В этом слове лишняя буква. = There is an extra letter in this word / One of the letters is extra.

The version with одна specifically highlights the number one.
Without одна, the sentence is still correct, but the focus is less on counting and more on the fact that a letter is unnecessary.

Why is в used here? Why not на?

Because Russian says в слове for in a word.

• в usually means in / inside
• на usually means on / at / on the surface of, though it also has some idiomatic uses

A word is treated as something that contains letters, so Russian says:

• в слове = in the word

Not на слове in this meaning.

What are the dictionary forms of the words in this sentence?

Here they are:

• в = in
• этот = this
• слово = word
• один = one
• лишний = extra, unnecessary
• буква = letter

In the sentence, several of them change form because of case, gender, and agreement:

• этот → этом
• слово → слове
• один → одна
• лишний → лишняя

How is this sentence pronounced, and where is the stress?

The stress is:

• В э́том сло́ве одна́ ли́шняя бу́ква.

Roughly:

• EH-təm
• SLO-vye
• ad-NA
• LEESH-nya-ya
• BOOK-va

A few helpful notes:

• этом has stress on the first syllable: э́том
• слове has stress on сло́-
• одна is stressed on the second syllable
• лишняя is stressed on the first syllable
• буква is stressed on the first syllable

Does буква mean letter as in the alphabet, or mail letter?

It means letter of the alphabet.

Russian distinguishes these two meanings:

• буква = a letter of the alphabet
• письмо = a letter/mail message

So in this sentence, буква clearly means a character in a word.

How would I say the opposite: There are no extra letters in this word?

A natural Russian sentence would be:

• В этом слове нет лишних букв.

Notice the changes:

• нет = there is not / there are not
• лишних букв is in the genitive plural, which is normal after нет

So the positive sentence uses nominative:

• одна лишняя буква

but the negative sentence uses genitive:

• нет лишних букв

This is a very common Russian pattern.