кто это?
kto eto?
The Russian phrase for "who is this?" is кто это? (kto eto?)
кто это? is used to ask for the identity of a person who is present or being pointed to.
Which one should you use?
Use кто это? when asking about people. For objects or animals (when the gender or identity is unknown), use что это? instead.
How does it change in a sentence?
In the present tense, the verb "to be" is omitted from this question, which is standard for Russian.
How do you pronounce it?
kto eto?
Did you know?
- While кто это? asks about a person, asking кто это? about a pet can be a sign of affection. It acknowledges the animal as a member of the family with a personality rather than just an object.
- If you point at a person and ask что это? instead of кто это?, you are grammatically implying they are an inanimate object.
- The word кто shares an ancient ancestor with the English word 'who', both tracing back to the Proto-Indo-European root *kʷos.
Examples in context
- Простите, а кто это?Prostite, a kto eto?Excuse me, but who is this?
- Ты знаешь, кто это?Ty znayesh', kto eto?Do you know who this is?
Example conversation
Olga shows Alexander a picture of a colleague.
- Ольга OlgaАлександр, посмотри на этого человека.Aleksandr, posmotri na etogo cheloveka.Alexander, look at this person.
- Александр AleksandrКто это?Kto eto?Who is this?
- Ольга OlgaЭто мой новый начальник.Eto moy novyy nachalnik.This is my new boss.
- Александр AleksandrО, очень приятно.O, ochen priyatno.Oh, very nice.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries кто, CC BY-SA 4.0.
