Breakdown of Это её парень.
это
this / it is
она
she / it (for a feminine noun)
парень
young man, boyfriend
Questions & Answers about Это её парень.
Why is there no word for "is" in this sentence?
In Russian, the present tense of the verb "to be" is almost always left out. So instead of saying "This is her boyfriend", you literally just say "This her boyfriend".
Since парень (boyfriend) is masculine, why do we use the neuter word это instead of the masculine этот?
When you are introducing someone or pointing something out and saying "This is...", you always use the fixed word это, no matter the gender of the noun. You would only use the masculine этот if you were saying "this boyfriend" (этот парень) instead of "This is her boyfriend".
Does the word её (her) change its ending to match the masculine noun парень?
No, it doesn't! Unlike "my" (мой) or "your" (твой), which change their endings to match the gender of the noun they describe, the third-person possessive words for "his" (его), "her" (её), and "their" (их) are completely frozen. They stay exactly the same no matter what noun follows them.
Does парень always mean "boyfriend"?
Not always. On its own, парень generally means "guy", "boy", or "young man". However, when you pair it with a possessive word like её (her) or мой (my) as in this sentence, it is understood as "boyfriend".
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