Breakdown of Мрамор — это камень, с которым тяжело работать.
это
this / it is
камень
stone
работать
to work
с
with (also со)
который
which / who / that (relative pronoun)
тяжело
hard / heavily
мрамор
the marble
Questions & Answers about Мрамор — это камень, с которым тяжело работать.
Why is the word которым used here, and why in this specific form?
которым is the relative pronoun "which". It takes the masculine singular form because it refers back to the masculine noun камень (stone). It is in the Instrumental case because it directly follows the preposition с (with). So, с которым translates to "with which".
Why do we need the dash and это in the first part of the sentence?
In the present tense, Russian doesn't use the verb "to be" (is/are). When defining one noun with another noun (like "Marble is a stone"), it is standard to use a dash and the particle это to bridge them together: Мрамор — это камень.
Why does the sentence use the adverb тяжело instead of an adjective?
The phrase тяжело работать is an impersonal construction meaning "it is hard to work." Because there is no specific subject (like "he" or "she") doing the action in this clause, Russian uses the adverb form ending in -о (тяжело) combined with the infinitive verb (работать).
Could I use трудно instead of тяжело in this sentence?
Yes, you could perfectly say с которым трудно работать. Both тяжело and трудно mean "hard" or "difficult" when talking about effort. тяжело can sometimes imply a heavier physical burden, which makes a lot of sense when talking about stone, but they are generally interchangeable here.
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