Questions & Answers about Наш шофёр — хороший человек.
Why is there a dash (—) instead of a word for "is"?
In Russian, the present tense of the verb "to be" (like "is" or "are") is almost never spoken or written. When connecting a subject to its description, Russians often use a long dash to visually replace the missing "is."
The word for "good" is хороший. Why does it end in -ий instead of the normal masculine ending -ый?
This happens because of a very important Russian spelling rule. After the letter ш (as well as г, к, х, ж, ч, and щ), you are never allowed to write the letter ы. You must use и instead, which is why the masculine ending becomes -ий here.
The English translation says "a good man," but doesn't человек just mean "person"?
Exactly! Человек literally translates to "person" or "human." In Russian, saying someone is a хороший человек (a good person) is extremely common. English speakers usually say "a good man" or "a good woman" in this context, which is why the translation adjusts it. If you needed to specify an adult male, you would use the word мужчина.
I noticed the letter ё in шофёр. Does that affect the word's pronunciation?
Yes, in Russian, the letter ё almost always takes the emphasis (stress) in a word, so you know exactly which syllable to stress. You might also notice that шофёр sounds a lot like the English word "chauffeur" because both languages borrowed it from French!