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Questions & Answers about Сапоги дорогие.
Why does the plural adjective дорогие end in -ие instead of -ые?
This happens because of the 7-letter spelling rule. In Russian, after the letters г, к, х, ж, ч, ш, and щ, you cannot write the letter ы; you must use и instead. Since the root of the word for expensive ends in г (дорог-), the standard plural adjective ending -ые changes to -ие.
The word for a single boot is masculine (сапог). Why does the plural сапоги end in -и instead of the usual masculine ending -ы?
It is the exact same spelling rule at work! Because сапог ends in the letter г, we cannot add -ы to make it plural. We must use -и instead, giving us сапоги.
There are only two words in this sentence. Where is the word for "are"?
In Russian, the verb to be (am, is, are) is almost always left out in the present tense. You simply put the subject (сапоги) next to its description (дорогие). The literal translation is just: Boots expensive.
How do we know it translates to "The boots" instead of just "Boots"?
Russian does not have articles like a or the. Depending on the situation, сапоги дорогие could mean The boots are expensive (talking about a specific pair) or Boots are expensive (talking about footwear in general). We rely on the context of the conversation to know which one makes sense.