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Это не день, это ночь.

Это не день, это ночь.
This is not day, this is night.
From Lesson 3:Soft-sign nouns (-ь)·Russian

Breakdown of Это не день, это ночь.

это
this / it is
не
not
ночь
night
день
day

Questions & Answers about Это не день, это ночь.

Both день and ночь end in a soft sign. How do I know which gender they are?
Nouns ending in a soft sign (ь) can be either masculine or feminine. You simply have to memorize the gender when you learn the word. For example, день is masculine, while ночь is feminine.
Since день is masculine and ночь is feminine, why doesn't это change gender to match?
When это is used as a generic subject meaning 'this is' or 'it is', it always stays in this fixed, neuter form. It only changes gender if it is used as an adjective directly attached to a noun, such as saying 'this day'.
How does the soft sign at the end change the pronunciation of день and ночь?
The soft sign (ь) has no sound of its own, but it softens the consonant before it. In день, it makes the 'n' sound soft, similar to the 'ny' in 'canyon'. In ночь, the 'ch' sound is already always soft in Russian, so the soft sign here is a spelling rule that also helps show the word is feminine.
Why aren't there any words for 'is' or 'a' in this Russian sentence?
Russian doesn't have articles like 'a' or 'the'. Also, in the present tense, Russian almost always drops the verb 'to be' (is, am, are). So the phrase 'This is not a day' translates literally as 'This not day' (Это не день).

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