Breakdown of Ваш приезд — это большая радость для нашей семьи.
это
this / it is
большой
big
семья
family
наш
our
Questions & Answers about Ваш приезд — это большая радость для нашей семьи.
How does the word приезд relate to the verbs of arrival we are learning?
Приезд (arrival) is the noun form of приезжать / приехать (to arrive by vehicle). Notice the при- prefix, which signals arrival, and -езд, which comes from the root for riding or driving (like in ездить). If someone were arriving on foot, you would use the noun приход instead.
Why is there a dash and the word это in the middle of the sentence?
In Russian, the present tense of 'to be' (is/are) is usually skipped. When you link a subject (your arrival) and a description (a big joy) that are both nouns or noun phrases, it is very common to use a dash and the word это to stand in for 'is'. It acts like a bridge connecting the two ideas.
I see большая has a feminine ending. Is радость a feminine word?
Why does the sentence use нашей семьи instead of the dictionary form наша семья?
The preposition для (for) always requires the Genitive case. Because of this, the feminine word наша (our) changes to нашей, and семья (family) changes to семьи.