Breakdown of Мой дедушка — страшный сладкоежка, он очень любит шоколад.
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
мой
my (мой, моя, моё) / mine
очень
very
любить
to love, to like
дедушка
grandfather
шоколад
chocolate
страшный
scary, terrible
сладкоежка
sweet tooth
Questions & Answers about Мой дедушка — страшный сладкоежка, он очень любит шоколад.
Why is the adjective страшный masculine when сладкоежка ends in -а?
Сладкоежка is a common gender noun (общий род). These are nouns ending in -а or -я that take on the grammatical gender of the specific person they describe. Because it refers to дедушка (a man), the adjective modifying it must take the masculine form (страшный). If we were talking about a woman, it would be страшная сладкоежка.
Is дедушка also considered a common gender noun since it ends in -а?
No, дедушка is strictly masculine. Nouns for specific male figures like папа, дядя, and дедушка always take masculine agreement (notice it is мой дедушка, not моя). Common gender nouns like сладкоежка, умница (clever person), or плакса (crybaby) are a separate category because the exact same word can be applied to either men or women.
Does страшный mean the grandfather is scary?
Not here! While страшный literally means 'scary' or 'terrible', Russians frequently use it colloquially as a strong intensifier. Just like saying someone is a 'terrible sweet tooth' or an 'awful gossip' in English, it simply means the trait is very extreme.
Why is there a dash (—) after дедушка?
In Russian, when both the subject (дедушка) and the main predicate (сладкоежка) are nouns in the nominative case, a dash is used to connect them in the present tense. It essentially acts as a visual bridge to replace the missing verb 'is'.
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