Question 1

Why is лидером in the Instrumental case instead of the Nominative?

Accepted Answer

It directly follows the verb является. Formal verbs of equivalence like являться require the noun or adjective that follows them to take the Instrumental case. Here, the masculine noun лидер takes the -ом ending.

Question 2

Since является just translates to 'is', why not drop the verb and say Этот человек — лидер?

Accepted Answer

You absolutely can, and in everyday casual speech, you usually would! However, являться is used in formal, academic, or professional contexts. It adds a tone closer to 'serves as' or 'constitutes'. You will see it a lot in news articles and official presentations.

Question 3

Why do we use Этот at the beginning of the sentence but это in the second half?

Accepted Answer

At the beginning, Этот is a pointing word (demonstrative adjective) modifying a specific noun, so it has to match the masculine человек. In the second half, это acts as a standalone pronoun meaning 'this is'. When used to introduce a statement, it always stays in the neuter это form, even though the noun it introduces (фактор) is masculine.

Question 4

Why use the conjunction а instead of и for 'and' here?

Accepted Answer

While и simply links similar things together, а is often used to shift the topic slightly or introduce a complementary fact. Here, the speaker establishes a fact about the person, then uses а to smoothly pivot to a commentary about why that fact matters.

Этот человек является лидером, а это важный фактор.

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