Questions & Answers about Это наш следующий проект.
Why is it Это and not Этот, since проект is a masculine noun?
Here, Это acts as a fixed phrase meaning "This is". When you point something out and say "This is [something]", you always use the neutral это, regardless of the noun's gender. You would only use Этот if you were saying "This project" directly, like in Этот проект наш (This project is ours).
Where is the verb "is" in this sentence?
In Russian, the present tense of the verb "to be" is almost always skipped. So you just say "This our next project". However, as you are seeing in this lesson's future tense exercises, the verb "to be" (быть) comes back when you talk about the future! If you wanted to say "This will be our next project", you would use the future form: Это будет наш следующий проект.
Why does проект sound like it has an "э" in the middle instead of the "е" it is spelled with?
That is a special pronunciation exception! Even though it is spelled with the letter е, it is pronounced as if it were written with э (sounding like "pra-EKT"). This is a common quirk with certain words Russian borrowed from other languages.
How do I know what ending to put on следующий?