Questions & Answers about Миссис Браун — наша новая соседка.
Why is there a dash after Браун?
In Russian, the present tense verb 'to be' (is/are/am) is usually omitted. When connecting two nouns in the nominative case (the subject Миссис Браун and what she is, a соседка), an em dash (—) is used in writing to stand in for the missing 'is'.
Since she is a woman, shouldn't her last name be Брауна?
No, because Браун is a foreign surname. Native Russian surnames change to match gender (like Иванов and Иванова), but foreign surnames ending in a consonant don't add an -а. Also, when a foreign surname ending in a consonant refers to a woman, it is indeclinable, meaning it stays exactly the same in every grammatical case.
This lesson is about irregular masculine plurals like англичанин changing to англичане. Does соседка have an irregular plural too?
No, it is completely regular! This highlights a very helpful pattern: while masculine nouns for nationalities or types of people often have tricky plurals (like сосед becoming соседи, or гражданин becoming граждане), their feminine equivalents usually end in -ка and have standard regular plurals. The plural of соседка is just соседки, exactly how англичанка regularly becomes англичанки.
Is the word Миссис indeclinable like the surname Браун?
Yes! Russian often uses borrowed titles like Миссис (Mrs.), Мистер (Mr.), or Мадам (Madame) when talking about foreigners. Because Миссис is a borrowed word that doesn't fit standard Russian noun endings, it is completely indeclinable and will never change its form, no matter what grammatical case is required.
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