Questions & Answers about Жаркий день, и вода холодная.
Why do the adjectives жаркий and холодная have different endings?
In Russian, adjectives must match the gender of the noun they describe. День (day) is masculine, so it takes a masculine adjective ending (-ий). Вода (water) is feminine, so it takes the feminine ending (-ая).
The standard masculine adjective ending is -ый. Why does жаркий end in -ий?
This is because of the 7-letter spelling rule. You can never write the letter ы after the letters г, к, х, ж, ч, ш, or щ. Instead, you must write и. Because the stem of this word ends in к, the ending becomes -ий instead of -ый.
Since день ends in a soft sign (-ь), how do I know it is masculine?
Where is the word for 'is' in the second half of the sentence?
Russian does not use a translation for the verb 'to be' (am, is, are) in the present tense. To say 'the water is cold,' you simply say 'water cold' (вода холодная).
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