Who is this?

Russian Vocabulary • Print version Кто это?  Who is this?
English	Русский	Listen	Notes
I am..	Я..	·
You are..	Ты..		X
	Вы..		O
He is..	Он..		M
She is..	Она..		F
Student	студе́нт	·	M
	студе́нтка		F
Who is..	кто	·
This	э́то	·

Examples

• Сергей: Доброе утро, Наташа. Как дела?
  

  Good morning, Natasha. How are you?



• Наташа: Хорошо, спасибо. Кто это?
  

  Well, thanks. Who is this?



• Сергей: Это Иван. Он студент.
  

  This is Ivan. He is a student.



• Иван: Очень приятно. Вы студентка?
  

  Nice to meet you. Are you a student?



• Наташа: Да, я студентка.
  

  Yes, I am a student.

Grammar

• Russian lacks "to be" and articles: Russian lacks the existence verb "to be", and articles such as "a", "an", or "the." Simply following "я" (I, me) with a noun suffices to say "I am a.." However, when the subject is a noun (not a pronoun), an em dash (—) functions as the verb. The proper sentence to say "Ivan is a student" is "Иван — студент."
• Gender: The noun "студент" is the first instance of grammatical gender. "Студент" is used when the speaker is referring to himself or another male. "Студентка" is used when the speaker is referring to herself or another female.