Breakdown of Этот ребёнок — такой плакса, он всегда громко плачет.
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
ребёнок
child
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
всегда
always
Questions & Answers about Этот ребёнок — такой плакса, он всегда громко плачет.
Why does the masculine modifier такой go with плакса, which looks like a feminine noun?
The word плакса is a common gender noun (общий род). These nouns usually end in -а or -я and can act as either masculine or feminine, depending on who they refer to. Since it describes ребёнок (a grammatically masculine noun), the modifier must be masculine: такой плакса.
How would this sentence change if we replaced ребёнок with девочка (girl)?
You would change the modifiers and pronouns to feminine, but the word плакса stays exactly the same: Эта девочка — такая плакса, она всегда громко плачет. This shows how common gender nouns adapt to the natural gender of the person they describe.
Why is there a dash (—) after ребёнок?
The dash acts as an equal sign replacing the present tense of the verb to be (is). In Russian, when both the subject (ребёнок) and the core predicate (плакса) are nouns in the nominative case, a dash is required between them.
I know the infinitive is плакать, so why is the present tense плачет instead of плакает?