Questions & Answers about Наш учитель замечательный.
Why is there no word for "is" in this sentence?
In Russian, the present tense of the verb "to be" is almost always skipped. Instead of saying "Our teacher is wonderful," you essentially just say "Our teacher wonderful." You simply put the subject and the describing word side by side.
How do we know "учитель" is masculine when it ends in a soft sign (-ь)?
Nouns ending in a soft sign (-ь) can be either masculine or feminine, which can be tricky to guess. However, учитель refers specifically to a male teacher (the female equivalent is учительница), so it is masculine by meaning. You can also spot its gender in this sentence because the words connected to it, наш and замечательный, are both in their masculine forms.
Why does "замечательный" end in "-ый"?
The ending -ый is the standard ending for masculine adjectives in their basic dictionary form. Adjectives must always match the gender of the noun they describe. Because учитель is masculine, the adjective takes this masculine ending. If the teacher were female, it would change to the feminine form замечательная.
Would the word for "our" (наш) change if we were talking about a female teacher?
Yes! Наш is the masculine form of "our" and matches the masculine noun учитель. If you were talking about a female teacher (учительница), you would need to use the feminine form наша.
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