Questions & Answers about Это дом знаменитого писателя.
Why is the phrase знаменитого писателя in the genitive case?
It shows possession or relationship, translating to "of a famous writer." In Russian, when one noun belongs to another (like the house belonging to the writer), the "owner" goes into the genitive case.
How is the ending of the adjective знаменитого pronounced?
The -ого ending on masculine and neuter adjectives in the genitive case is always pronounced as -ово (with a "v" sound instead of a "g"). So, the word sounds like "znamenitovo."
If I want to say "This is the house of the famous writer Pushkin," how do I decline the surname Пушкин?
You would also put the surname into the genitive case: Пушкина. Masculine surnames ending in -ов, -ев, and -ин act like regular masculine nouns in the genitive case, simply adding an -а to the end. The full sentence would be: Это дом знаменитого писателя Пушкина.
Дом is a masculine noun. Why does the sentence start with the neuter word Это instead of the masculine Этот?
When introducing or identifying something ("This is..."), Russian uses the fixed pronoun Это, no matter the gender or number of the noun being introduced. You only use Этот if "this" acts as an adjective pointing to a specific noun, as in Этот дом старый (This house is old).