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[bellezzarubata.livejournal.com]

Is there a trick to easily remembering 'это' as "this is" vs. as an adjective?  I hope this makes sense.  I think I have it but to me it seems like a fine line.

Comments

[spiritrc.livejournal.com]

Actually, "this is" is exactly "это есть". This is a pencil = Это есть карандаш. However, in a modern Russian we do not use "есть" as an equivalent of "is". "Это" is exactly "This". So think of it as "это карандаш" = "this ('is' implied) a pencil".

That trick works in the opposite direction (when Russians learn English and try to find a rule why to use those "unneeded" 'is', 'am' and 'are'). I don't know if it will work for the learners of Russian.