Breakdown of Я учусь здесь, потому что это хороший университет.
это
this / it is
здесь
here
я
I
хороший
good
Questions & Answers about Я учусь здесь, потому что это хороший университет.
Why do we use учусь here instead of изучаю?
The verb учиться is used to talk about where or how you study, or just the general fact of being a student. Because this sentence focuses on the location (здесь - here) rather than a specific academic subject, we use учусь. If you wanted to add a subject, like 'I study history here', you would switch to изучаю: Я изучаю историю здесь.
Why does the verb end in -сь instead of -ся?
The reflexive ending changes depending on the letter right before it. Because the 'I' form (учу) ends in a vowel, we attach the shortened -сь to make учусь. If the verb form ended in a consonant (like the 'he/she' form учится), you would use -ся.
Why does the sentence use это instead of он, since университет is masculine?
When you use 'it is' or 'this is' to introduce or define something, Russian uses the fixed word это regardless of the noun's gender. You would only use он if you were replacing the noun as a pronoun, like saying 'Where is the university? It (он) is over there.'
Why is there a comma before потому что?
In Russian grammar, a comma is strictly required to separate the main part of a sentence (Я учусь здесь) from a dependent part starting with words like потому что (because), что (that), or если (if). English is flexible with commas before 'because', but Russian is not!