Questions & Answers about Где море? Оно здесь.
How can I tell that море is a neuter noun?
Look at the last letter! Most Russian nouns ending in a consonant are masculine, those ending in -а or -я are feminine, and those ending in -о or -е are neuter. Since море ends in -е, it is a neuter noun.
Why does the second sentence use оно for "it"?
In Russian, pronouns must match the gender of the noun they replace. Because море is a neuter noun, we must use the neuter pronoun оно (it). If the noun were masculine, we would use он, and if it were feminine, we would use она.
Where is the word for "is" in this sentence?
Russian almost always skips the verb "to be" in the present tense. Instead of saying "Where is the sea?", you literally just say "Where sea?" (Где море?). The exact same rule applies to the answer, which translates literally as "It here" (Оно здесь).
Could I just use это instead of оно here?
Not in this case. You use это when introducing or pointing to something new, like saying "This is the sea" (Это море). But because we already brought up the sea in the first question, we use the personal pronoun оно to refer back to that specific neuter noun.
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