Questions & Answers about Мои лыжи новые.
Why is it мои and not мой or моя?
Мои is the plural form of the possessive pronoun meaning 'my'. Because лыжи (skis) is a plural noun, the pronoun that goes with it must also be in the plural form.
Where is the verb 'are' in this sentence?
In the present tense, Russian almost always drops the verb 'to be' (am, is, are). You just put the subject Мои лыжи (my skis) and the describing word новые (new) side by side to mean 'My skis are new'.
I remember that feminine nouns ending in -а usually take -ы in the plural. Why does лыжи end in -и?
You are right that the singular word is лыжа (a ski). However, Russian has a spelling rule: after the letters г, к, х, ж, ч, ш, щ, you must never write ы. You have to use и instead. That is why it becomes лыжи.
Why does the adjective новые end in -ые?
Новые is an adjective describing лыжи. Because the noun is plural and in the nominative (subject) case, the adjective must match it. The standard nominative plural ending for adjectives is -ые.
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