Questions & Answers about Это детский магазин.
Is the adjective детский plural because it translates to the plural word children's?
Why doesn't the word Это change to match the masculine word магазин?
When you use Это to introduce something, meaning 'This is a...', it stays fixed in this neutral form no matter the gender or number of the noun. You would only use the masculine demonstrative pronoun этот if you were saying 'this shop' (этот магазин) rather than 'this is a shop'.
Why does детский end in -ий instead of the regular masculine adjective ending -ый?
This happens because of the 7-letter spelling rule. In Russian, you can never write the letter ы after к, г, х, ш, щ, ж, or ч. Because the base of the word ends in к, we have to use и instead, giving us the -ий ending.
How does this sentence change if I want to say 'These are children's shops' using the new plural rules?
You would say Это детские магазины. Notice that the introducing word Это stays exactly the same, even for plurals! But the adjective changes to the nominative plural form детские and the noun changes to the plural form магазины.
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