Questions & Answers about Это большое число.
Why is there no word for "is" in this sentence?
In Russian, the verb "to be" is almost always skipped in the present tense. Instead of saying "This is a big number", Russian simply says "This a big number" (Это большое число).
Why does большое end in -ое?
Adjectives in Russian must match the gender of the noun they describe. The word for number, число, is a neuter noun because it ends in -о. Therefore, the adjective for "big" takes the neuter ending -ое to become большое.
Is Это neuter here to match the noun число?
It happens to look like it, but no. When Это acts as a standalone subject meaning "This is" or "It is", it always stays in this default form, no matter the gender of the noun that follows. If you wanted to say "This number" (as in, "This number is big"), you would match the gender. For a neuter noun the matching word is also это, but that is just a coincidence here!
Could I use the word великое for "big" here instead?
No. While both words can translate to "big" or "great", великий usually means "great" in a historical or significant sense, like a great discovery or a great leader. For physical size or everyday mathematical amounts like a number, большой is the correct word.
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