Questions & Answers about Виноград — это фрукт.
Why is "grapes" translated as a singular word (виноград) instead of a plural?
In Russian, виноград is treated as a mass noun (an uncountable group, like "water" or "rice" in English). Even when you are talking about a whole bunch of grapes, you use the singular form. If you need to talk about one single individual grape, there is a separate word for that (виноградина).
Why is there a dash and the word это in the middle of the sentence?
Russian doesn't use present-tense verbs for "is" or "are". When you want to equate two nouns and say "Noun A is Noun B" (like "Grapes are a fruit"), Russian replaces the missing verb with a dash, often followed by это, to link them together.
Doesn't это normally mean "this"? Why is it translated as "are" here?
You are right that это means "this" or "this is". The literal Russian structure here is "Grapes — this [is] fruit." Because English requires a verb, we translate that Russian linking structure smoothly as "are" in English.
Where is the word for "a" in "a fruit"?
Russian doesn't have articles like "a", "an", or "the". The single word фрукт means both "fruit" and "a fruit", depending on what sounds best in English.
Learn Виноград — это фрукт and more in Russian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free