Word
Это яйца, а там бананы.
Meaning
These are eggs, and those are bananas.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about Это яйца, а там бананы.
Since яйца (eggs) is plural, why does the sentence start with это instead of a plural word like эти?
When you are pointing something out or introducing it, like saying "This is..." or "These are...", Russian uses the fixed word это. You only use the plural эти when it directly describes a noun, like in the phrase эти бананы (these bananas).
How do we form the plural яйца?
The word яйца comes from the neuter noun яйцо (egg). To make regular neuter nouns plural, you change the ending from -о to -а.
What is the singular form of бананы and how is the plural made?
The singular is банан (banana). Since it is a masculine noun ending in a consonant, you simply add -ы to the end of the word to make it plural.
Why is а used here to mean "and" instead of и?
Russian uses а when contrasting two things, which often translates to "whereas" or a soft "but". Here, you are contrasting what is right here (яйца) with what is over there (бананы), so а is the natural choice.