Questions & Answers about Верхний этаж очень тихий.
Why do both верхний and тихий end in -ий instead of the standard masculine -ый?
For different reasons! Верхний is a soft adjective, which means its endings consistently use и instead of ы. Тихий, on the other hand, ends in х. The Russian 7-letter spelling rule says you can never write ы after the letters г, к, or х (among others), so it must use -ий instead.
How does this spelling rule affect these adjectives in the genitive plural?
The exact same logic applies! In the genitive plural, standard adjectives end in -ых. But because верхний is a soft adjective and тихий ends in х, they both must use the -их ending instead. So you get верхних and тихих.
Where is the word for 'is' in this sentence?
In Russian, the verb 'to be' (am, is, are) is almost always left out in the present tense. The sentence literally translates to 'Top floor very quiet.'
Can I use этаж to talk about the floor inside my kitchen?
No, этаж specifically means a level or story of a building (like the first floor or top floor). For the physical floor you walk on inside a room, you need to use the word пол.