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Questions & Answers about Первый студент здесь.
The lesson is about the number one (один). Why does this sentence use первый instead?
Один is a cardinal number used for counting quantity ("one student"). Первый means "first". It is an ordinal number used to show position or order in a sequence. Just like in English, the words for "one" and "first" are completely different!
Why does первый end with -ый?
In Russian, ordinal numbers like "first", "second", and "third" act exactly like adjectives. They change their endings to match the gender of the noun they describe. Because студент is a masculine noun, первый takes the standard masculine ending -ый. If it were describing a feminine noun, it would change to первая.
Where is the word for "is" in this sentence?
In Russian, the present tense of the verb "to be" (am, is, are) is almost always left out. You simply place the subject right next to its location. So, the sentence literally reads as "First student here."
What is the purpose of the letter ь at the end of здесь?
That is the "soft sign". It doesn't make a sound of its own, but it tells you to soften the consonant right before it (the с). When you pronounce it, it sounds a bit like you are lightly adding a "y" sound right at the end of the word.