Breakdown of Какое сегодня число? День рождения!
какой
which/what kind of (m, sister forms: какая, какое)
сегодня
today
число
number, date
день рождения
birthday
Questions & Answers about Какое сегодня число? День рождения!
Why do we use the neuter word Какое instead of Какой or Какая?
I thought число meant "number". Why does it mean "date" here?
You are right, число does mean "number"! In Russian, everyday calendar dates are referred to by their number. So asking "What is the date today?" is phrased as Какое сегодня число? (literally, "What number is today?").
How does День рождения work? What case is рождения in?
День рождения literally means "Day of birth". День (day) is the main word, and рождения is the genitive case of the neuter noun рождение (birth). The genitive case is used here to show possession or connection, similar to the English word "of".
The translation says "It is my birthday", but there is no word for "my" in the Russian sentence. Where did it go?
Russian frequently leaves out possessive pronouns like мой (my) when the context makes it completely obvious whose birthday it is. You can say Мой день рождения!, but simply exclaiming День рождения! sounds very natural.
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