Breakdown of Мой старший брат — врач.
брат
brother
врач
doctor
мой
my (мой, моя, моё) / mine
старший
older, elder
Questions & Answers about Мой старший брат — врач.
Why is there a dash (—) between 'брат' and 'врач' instead of a word for 'is'?
In Russian, the present tense of the verb 'to be' (am, is, are) is skipped. When linking two nouns together as the subject and what it is (like брат and врач), a dash is often used in writing to mark where 'is' belongs.
Why isn't there a word for 'a' before врач?
Russian doesn't have articles like 'a', 'an', or 'the'. The word врач stands alone and can mean 'doctor', 'a doctor', or 'the doctor' depending on the context.
Why use старший instead of the regular word for 'old' (старый)?
Старый means 'old' in terms of absolute age (like an old car or an elderly man). When talking about sibling order, you use старший to mean 'older' or 'elder'. (The opposite, younger, is младший).
Why do Мой and старший have these specific endings?
They are describing брат (brother), which is a masculine noun. In Russian, adjectives and possessive words must match the gender of the noun they describe, so both мой (my) and старший (elder) are in their masculine forms here.