Questions & Answers about Это мама, а это я.
The English translation says "this is me". Why does Russian use the subject pronoun "я" (I)?
In English, we usually say "This is me", but Russian requires a subject pronoun here. The word это (this is) acts like an equals sign linking two subjects together. You are literally saying "This is I." Because of this, you must use the basic subject pronoun я rather than an object pronoun.
Why does the sentence use "а" for "and" instead of "и"?
In Russian, а is used to show a slight contrast, meaning something between "and" and "but" (like "whereas"). Because you are contrasting two different subjects (Mom is over here, whereas I am over here), а is the natural choice. You would use и if you were grouping them together in an action, like "Mom and I are eating."
Where is the verb "is" in this sentence?
In Russian, the present tense of the verb "to be" is almost always skipped! The word это simply means "this" or "this is", and you place the subject (мама or я) directly after it to complete the thought.
Since "мама" (mom) is feminine, why do we use "это" (neuter) instead of the feminine "эта"?
When you are introducing someone or something using the structure "This is...", you always use the fixed, unchanging word это, regardless of the person's gender. You only use the feminine эта when it's attached directly to a noun to mean "this specific", as in эта мама (this mom).