Breakdown of Это самый удивительный город.
это
this / it is
город
city
самый
most
удивительный
amazing, surprising
Questions & Answers about Это самый удивительный город.
How do we use самый to mean 'the most' here?
To say 'the most', you place the word самый directly before an adjective. Because самый acts like an adjective itself, it must match the gender, case, and number of the noun it describes. Since город (city) is a masculine, singular noun in the nominative case, we use the masculine form самый.
Why doesn't Это change to the masculine form Этот to match город?
When Это means 'This is' or 'It is' at the start of a sentence, it is a fixed introductory word and never changes its gender. You would only use the masculine form Этот if you were saying 'This city is...' (Этот город...).
Where is the verb 'is' in this sentence?
In Russian, the present tense of the verb 'to be' (is/am/are) is normally dropped. The sentence literally reads 'This [is] the most amazing city.' You only need to include a verb if you are talking about the past or the future, for example: Это был самый удивительный город (This was the most amazing city).
Does самый always have to be placed right before the adjective?
Yes, in standard Russian, самый sits directly in front of the adjective it modifies. You should treat самый удивительный as a single, connected phrase that comes right before the noun.