Questions & Answers about Это крупный город на реке.
Why use крупный instead of большой for a large city?
While большой simply means big in a physical sense, крупный often implies major, prominent, or large-scale. For cities, businesses, or events, крупный is commonly used to highlight their economic or social importance rather than just their physical footprint.
Why is it на реке and not в реке?
When describing a city or building located on the banks of a body of water, Russian uses на (on) with the prepositional case. If you used в (в реке), it would mean the city is literally submerged underwater!
Why doesn't Это change to the masculine Этот to match город?
Here, Это acts as a standalone pronoun introducing a new subject (meaning This is). When used this way, it always stays in the neuter form, regardless of the following noun's gender. You would only use Этот if it were an adjective attached directly to the noun, as in Этот город крупный (This city is large).