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Questions & Answers about Цветы очень красивые.
What is the singular form of цветы?
The singular word for "flower" is цветок. To make it plural, it drops the -ок part entirely and adds the standard plural noun ending -ы to become цветы.
Why does the adjective красивые end in -ые?
Adjectives must match the noun they describe. Because цветы is plural, the dictionary form of the adjective (красивый) drops its singular ending and takes the standard plural ending -ые. In Russian, plural adjectives do not have different forms for masculine, feminine, or neuter nouns, so -ые works for almost all of them!
Where is the word for "are" in this sentence?
In Russian, the verb "to be" (am, is, are) is almost always left out in the present tense. You literally say "Flowers very beautiful" (Цветы очень красивые), and the "are" is automatically understood by the listener.
Why does the letter е in цветы sound like a short English "i"?
In the word цветы, the spoken stress falls heavily on the new plural ending -ы. When the Russian vowel е is not stressed, its pronunciation weakens and sounds very similar to a short "i" sound.