Questions & Answers about Июль — жаркий месяц.
Why is there a dash (—) in the middle of the sentence?
In Russian, the present tense of the verb 'to be' (is, am, are) is usually skipped. When you link a noun to another noun (like stating that Июль is a месяц), a long dash is used in writing to take the place of that missing verb.
Why does жаркий end in -ий instead of the standard masculine adjective ending -ый?
This is due to a very common Russian spelling rule. After the letter к (and a few other specific consonants), you can never write the letter ы. Instead, you must use и. Because of this rule, the standard -ый ending changes to -ий.
The word Июль ends in a soft sign (ь). How do we know if it is masculine or feminine?
Is the adjective жаркий matching the gender of Июль or месяц?
An adjective always matches the noun it is directly grouped with. In this sentence, жаркий modifies месяц (month). Since месяц is a masculine noun, жаркий takes the masculine adjective form.
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