Questions & Answers about Щи и борщ — это супы.
Why is there a dash and the word это in this sentence?
When you equate two nouns in Russian (saying one thing is another thing), you often link them with a dash and the word это. Since Russian drops the verb 'to be' in the present tense, — это fills the gap to mean 'is' or 'are' in definitions.
Is the soup Щи singular or plural?
Щи is always plural! Just like the English words 'scissors' or 'pants', this traditional cabbage soup only has a plural grammatical form. Any adjectives you use with it must also be plural, like горячие щи (hot shchi).
Why doesn't борщ end with a soft sign (ь), since щ is a soft sound?
How does the spoken stress change in the plural word супы?
The stress shifts to the ending. The singular word суп is stressed on its only vowel, but in the plural супы, the heavy stress moves to the final letter ы.