Questions & Answers about Это замечательный день.
Why is the word for "is" missing in this sentence?
In Russian, the verb "to be" is almost never used in the present tense. So instead of saying "This is a wonderful day," you just say "This a wonderful day" (Это замечательный день).
Since день (day) is masculine, shouldn't we use the masculine Этот instead of Это?
This is a very common mix-up! When you are introducing something with the phrase "This is...", you always use the neutral word Это, regardless of the noun's gender. You would only use Этот if you were saying "This day" (Этот день) rather than "This is a day".
How do we know день is masculine if it ends in a soft sign (ь)?
Nouns ending in a soft sign (ь) can be either masculine or feminine. There is no strict rule to tell them apart just by looking, so you have to memorize the gender of these words. День is a very common masculine word that is great to memorize early on!
Why does the adjective замечательный end in -ый?
Adjectives in Russian must match the gender of the noun they describe. Because день is a masculine noun, the adjective замечательный takes the standard masculine ending -ый.
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