Questions & Answers about Это ресторан?
Since ресторан is a masculine word, why do we use это instead of этот?
When you want to say "This is a..." or ask "Is this a...?", you always use the fixed word это, regardless of the noun's gender. If you used этот here (Этот ресторан?), it would just mean "This restaurant?". Because you are asking "Is this a restaurant?", you must use the unchanging это.
Where is the verb "is" in this sentence?
In Russian, the present tense of the verb "to be" (am, is, are) is almost always skipped. So, Это ресторан translates literally to "This [is a] restaurant".
How do we know this is a question if the word order is exactly the same as a statement?
In spoken Russian, simple questions are formed entirely with your tone of voice. You raise your pitch on the most important word (in this case, ресторан). In writing, simply adding a question mark turns the statement Это ресторан. (This is a restaurant.) into the question Это ресторан? (Is this a restaurant?).
Why isn't there a word for "a" before ресторан?
Russian doesn't have articles like "a", "an", or "the". The word ресторан can mean "restaurant", "a restaurant", or "the restaurant" depending entirely on the context of the conversation.
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