How to Say "This Is" in Russian

это

eto

The Russian phrase for "this is" is это (eto).

It can function both as the phrase "this is" and simply as the word "this" within a sentence.

How does it change in a sentence?

The word это functions as both 'this is' and 'this' in a sentence.

eto

English speakers often mistakenly try to use the verb есть (to be) with это, but это alone is sufficient to mean "this is".

In a very colloquial setting, это can be used to replace a noun that the speaker has forgotten, effectively meaning 'this thingy' or 'that gadget'.
The word это is an indeclinable pronoun, meaning it never changes its ending regardless of whether the object it refers to is singular or plural.
While это is used for 'this is' regardless of the object, Russian has separate words for 'this' depending on the gender of the noun, such as этот for masculine and эта for feminine.

А это наш дом.
And this is our house.
Tatoeba #5108912 by marafon, translation #13201169 by frpzzd
Это не мой дом.
This is not my home.
Tatoeba #2094506 by marafon, translation #1787924 by sadhen
Это я ем банан.
This is me eating a banana.
Tatoeba #2943911 by Ooneykcall, translation #1098570 by cntrational
Это книга.
This is a book.
Вот наш гость.
This is our guest.
Вот это машина!
This is an amazing car!
5265 more sentences on Tatoeba

Olga shows Dmitry a photo of her dog.

Ольга Olga

Смотри, это мой пёс.
Smotri, eto moy pyos.
Look, this is my dog.
Дмитрий Dmitry

Он очень красивый!
On ochen' krasivyy!
He is very beautiful!
Ольга Olga

Да, это золотистый ретривер.
Da, eto zolotistyy retriver.
Yes, this is a golden retriever.
Дмитрий Dmitry

Я тоже хочу такого пса.
Ya tozhe khochu takogo psa.
I want a dog like that too.

Sources

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