Questions & Answers about Это текст.
Why do we use Это instead of Этот, since текст is a masculine word?
Because here Это means "This is". When you are pointing something out and saying "This is a [thing]", you always use the fixed word Это, regardless of the noun's gender. You would only use Этот if you were saying "this text" (for example, "Этот текст хороший" which means "This text is good").
If I want to say "This is a book" (книга, which is feminine), will Это change to Эта?
No, it will stay exactly the same: Это книга. When acting as a universal pointer meaning "this is" or "it is", Это never changes. It stays the same for masculine, feminine, neuter, and even plural words.
Where are the words for "is" and "a" in this sentence?
Russian doesn't use a word for "is" in the present tense, and it doesn't have articles like "a" or "the". So, Это текст literally translates to just "This text" but implies the full meaning "This is a text."
How can I tell that текст is a masculine noun?
You can tell by looking at the last letter. It ends in a consonant (the letter т), which is the standard rule for identifying masculine nouns in Russian.
Learn Это текст and more in Russian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free