Questions & Answers about Да, это моё письмо.
Why do we use моё here instead of мой or моя?
In Russian, the word for "my" changes to match the gender of the noun it describes. The word письмо (letter) ends in -о, which makes it a neuter noun. Therefore, we must use the neuter form of "my", which is моё.
How do you pronounce the word моё?
The letter ё is pronounced like the "yo" in "yoyo", making the whole word sound like "mah-YO". A handy rule to remember is that whenever a Russian word contains the letter ё, the spoken stress always falls on that syllable.
Where is the verb "is" in this sentence?
Russian usually leaves out the verb "to be" (am, is, are) in the present tense. You simply say это моё письмо, which literally translates to "this my letter" but means "this is my letter".
Does the word это change its ending to match the neuter noun письмо?
No, not in this specific sentence structure. Here, это is acting as a fixed phrase meaning "this is" or "it is". When introducing or pointing something out like this, it always stays as это, regardless of the noun's gender. Only the possessive pronoun моё changes to match письмо.