Questions & Answers about Это большой размер.
Why do we use это here instead of the masculine этот to match размер?
When you want to say 'This is a...' or 'These are...', you always use the fixed neutral word это, no matter the gender or quantity of the noun. You only use the masculine этот if 'this' is directly describing the noun, like in этот размер (this size).
Why does the adjective большой end in -ой instead of the usual -ый?
Because it describes the masculine noun размер. While most masculine adjectives in the dictionary end in -ый or -ий, adjectives where the spoken stress falls on the very last syllable take the -ой ending instead.
How would this sentence look in the plural ('These are big sizes') using our current lesson's rules?
It would be Это большие размеры. The starter word это doesn't change for plurals when it means 'these are'. The noun adds -ы to become размеры. The adjective changes to the plural form большие (using -ие instead of -ые because of the spelling rule that says you cannot write ы after the letter ш).
Why is there no word for 'is' in this sentence?
In Russian, the present tense forms of the verb 'to be' (am, is, are) are almost always skipped. The sentence is literally built as 'This big size'.
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