Questions & Answers about Эти туфли дорогие.
Why is there no word for "are" in this sentence?
In Russian, the present tense of the verb "to be" is almost always left out. You simply put the subject (Эти туфли) and the describing word (дорогие) right next to each other.
Why do we use Эти here instead of Это?
If you were saying "These are expensive shoes," you could start with the general fixed word Это. But because you are specifically saying "These shoes," the word for "these" acts as an adjective and must match the plural noun туфли, so it becomes the plural form Эти.
Why does the adjective дорогие end in -ие instead of the regular plural ending -ые?
This happens because of the 7-letter spelling rule in Russian. You can never write the letter ы after the letter г. You must replace it with и, which turns the standard -ые ending into -ие.
Is the word туфли always plural?
You will usually see it in the plural because people wear shoes in pairs, but the singular form is туфля (a shoe). It is a feminine noun, which is important to remember if you ever need to describe just one shoe.
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