Russian A1, Unit 8: This and that, with gender

This and that, with gender

Russian A1 · Unit 8

GoalSay “this” and “that” before a noun and match the gender.

New words

э́тот (étot) · this (with a masculine word)э́та (éta) · this (with a feminine word)э́то (éto) · this (with a neuter word)э́ти (éti) · these (plural)тот (tot) · that (masculine)та (ta) · that (feminine)то (to) · that (neuter)те (te) · those (plural)

Explanation

Э́то alone means “this is”. Before a noun it changes with the gender and means “this”: э́тот дом (masculine), э́та кни́га (feminine), э́то окно́ (neuter) and э́ти де́ти (plural). To say “that” use тот, та, то and те in the same way. A good pattern is: Э́тот дом — мой, тот дом — твой. The words мой and моя́ also match the gender: э́та су́мка — моя́. Use э́ти and те with plurals; you make the plural in the next lesson.

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
this	э́тот дом	э́та кни́га	э́то окно́	э́ти де́ти
that	тот дом	та кни́га	то окно́	те де́ти

Worked examples

This one, near me. Listen.

That one, far away. Listen.

Ди́ма

Э́та су́мка твоя́?

Ни́на

Нет, не моя́. Моя́ — та.

Ди́ма and Ни́на. Нет means “no”.

Class activity

Look around the room. Touch a near thing and say э́тот, э́та or э́то with its name; point to a far thing and say тот, та or то. Say ten phrases. Check each noun’s ending to choose the right form.

Practice

Press Listen. Which noun do you hear: ру́чка, кни́га or ча́шка?

…

Choose э́тот or э́та: … маши́на.

Read aloud and translate.

Say “this window” in Russian.

Say “these children” in Russian.

Gender of nouns, this and that

This and that, with gender