Question 1

Why is there a long dash (—) instead of a verb like "is" in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

In Russian, the present tense of the verb "to be" (am, is, are) is almost always skipped. When a sentence links one noun phrase directly to another noun phrase (like saying "X is Y"), Russian uses a dash to take the place of the missing "is". Here, it connects the subject (аппарат) to what it is (изобретение).

Question 2

Why do the words describing the nouns have different endings (Этот странный vs. новое)?

Accepted Answer

Adjectives and pointing words must match the gender of the noun they describe. Аппарат (apparatus) is a masculine noun because it ends in a consonant, so it takes the masculine forms Этот (this) and странный (strange). However, изобретение (invention) is a neuter noun, so it takes the neuter adjective ending -ое, giving us новое (new).

Question 3

If I wanted to change this to "This is a strange apparatus, which is a new invention", how would I use который?

Accepted Answer

To add "which" (который), you must match it to the gender of the noun it refers back to. Since аппарат is masculine and serves as the subject of the new clause, you use the masculine Nominative form который. The sentence would become: Это странный аппарат, который — новое изобретение. (Notice we also changed Этот to Это at the start to mean "This is a...").

Question 4

Why does изобретение end in -ие? Is that a common ending?

Accepted Answer

Yes, it is very common! Nouns ending in -е or -о are almost always neuter. The specific -ие ending is frequently used to turn verbs into nouns that describe an action or a result, very similar to the "-tion" or "-ment" endings in English (like invent -> invention).

Этот странный аппарат — новое изобретение.

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