Question 1

Why is the masculine этот used with кофе? Doesn't the -е ending make it neuter?

Accepted Answer

You are right that most Russian nouns ending in -е or -о are neuter. However, кофе is a famous exception! It is a masculine noun. That is why it takes the masculine demonstrative pronoun этот and the masculine adjective хороший.

Question 2

Where is the word for 'is' in 'This coffee is good'?

Accepted Answer

In Russian, the present tense of the verb 'to be' (am, is, are) is almost always left out. You simply put the subject and the adjective together. So, Этот кофе хороший literally translates to 'This coffee [is] good'.

Question 3

Why does the sentence use а for 'but' instead of но?

Accepted Answer

Russian has two main words for 'but': а and но. Но is used for a direct contradiction or obstacle. А is used to contrast two different things, much like 'whereas' in English. Since we are contrasting the good coffee with the bad tea, а is the correct choice here.

Question 4

Since the lesson is about этот, эта, and это, why do both halves of the sentence use этот?

Accepted Answer

Этот is the masculine form of 'this'. Both кофе (as an exception) and чай (because it ends in the letter -й) are masculine nouns. If we were talking about a feminine noun like вода (water) or a neuter noun like молоко (milk), we would have to use эта or это.

Этот кофе хороший, а этот чай плохой.

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