Questions & Answers about Мой брат — строитель.
Why is there a dash (—) in the middle of the sentence instead of a verb?
In Russian, the present tense of the verb 'to be' (am, is, are) is skipped. When you link two nouns together to say what someone or something is, you replace the missing verb with a long dash. So this sentence literally translates to: My brother — builder.
Why is there no word for 'a' before строитель?
Russian does not have articles like 'a', 'an', or 'the'. You just use the noun строитель (builder) on its own. The English translation adds 'a' because it is required for correct English grammar.
Would I still use Мой if I was talking about my sister instead of my brother?
No, you would need to change it. Possessive words like 'my' must match the gender of the noun they describe. Because брат (brother) is masculine, we use the masculine word Мой. For a feminine noun like sister, you would use Моя.
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