Breakdown of Сегодня наш первый конкурс.
наш
our (наш, наша, наше)
сегодня
today
первый
first (1st)
конкурс
competition
Questions & Answers about Сегодня наш первый конкурс.
Where is the verb "is" in this sentence?
In Russian, the verb "to be" is almost always left out in the present tense, so you literally just say "Today our first competition." If you were talking about the past or future, you would need to add the verb: Сегодня был наш первый конкурс (Today was our first competition).
Since we are learning about time expressions, does сегодня need a preposition or a special case like the Accusative?
No, because сегодня (today) is an adverb, not a noun. Adverbs are fixed words that never change their endings and don't take prepositions. You only need to worry about cases and prepositions when using nouns to express time or duration, like "for an hour" (час) or "in a minute" (за минуту).
Why are we using наш and первый instead of their feminine or neuter forms?
Adjectives and possessive pronouns must always match the gender, number, and case of the noun they describe. The word конкурс ends in a consonant, which tells us it is a masculine noun. Therefore, we must use the masculine singular forms наш (our) and первый (first).
I've also seen the word соревнование for "competition". What is the difference between that and конкурс?
Конкурс is usually used for contests of talent, skill, art, or knowledge (like a music competition, a beauty pageant, or an entrance exam). Соревнование is almost always used for sports, races, and athletic competitions.