Breakdown of То, что пугает дракона — это волшебный меч.
это
this / it is
что
what
тот
that
пугать
to frighten
дракон
dragon
волшебный
magic
меч
sword
Questions & Answers about То, что пугает дракона — это волшебный меч.
Why does the sentence start with То, что instead of just Что like in English ("What scares...")?
In English, "what" can act as a standalone pronoun meaning "the thing that." Russian usually splits this concept into two parts: a demonstrative pronoun (то - "that thing") and a relative pronoun (что - "which/that"). So, То, что... literally translates to "That, which...". You need both parts to form this kind of subject in Russian.
Could we use Тот, кто instead of То, что here?
No, because the thing doing the scaring is a magic sword (волшебный меч), which is an inanimate object. You use То, что for things ("that which") and Тот, кто for people or animate beings ("the one who" or "he who").
Why is the word for dragon, дракона, ending in "-а"?
The dragon is the direct object receiving the action (it is being scared), so it needs to be in the accusative case. Because дракон is a masculine, animate noun (mythical creatures count as "living" beings in Russian grammar), its accusative form matches its genitive form, taking the -а ending.
Why do we need the dash (—) and это in the middle of the sentence?
The entire first clause (То, что пугает дракона) acts as the subject, and волшебный меч is the predicate (what the subject is). Because Russian drops the present-tense verb "is", a dash is used to link the two parts. Adding это after the dash acts as a bridge (literally: "That which scares the dragon — this is a magic sword") and makes the sentence flow much more naturally.
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