Questions & Answers about Борщ — это красный суп.
Why is there a dash (—) and the word это instead of a verb for "is"?
In Russian, the present tense of the verb "to be" is usually left out. When you define something by saying "Noun is Noun" (like "Borscht is a soup"), you use a long dash followed by the word это to bridge the two words together.
Could I say this sentence without the word это?
Yes, you can just say Борщ — красный суп. Using это makes it sound a bit more like a definition ("Borscht, this is a red soup"), which is a very common and natural sentence structure in Russian.
Is the word суп in the accusative case since it comes at the end of the sentence?
No, both Борщ and суп are in the nominative case. When you say "X is Y" using this dash structure, both sides are in the nominative (dictionary) case because one is just defining the other.
Why does красный end in -ый here?
The adjective красный (red) describes суп (soup). Because суп is a masculine noun in the nominative case, the adjective must match it by taking the masculine nominative ending -ый.
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