Demonstratives: этот, эта, это, эти
Demonstratives: э́тот, э́та, э́то, э́ти
Pointing at an object (this/these) and telling э́то “this is” from э́та/э́тот
⚡Key points
э́тот / э́та / э́то / э́ти→this / these — agrees with the noun
э́то presentative→э́то = “this is…” (invariable)
э́тот дом→masculine; э́та кни́га feminine; э́то окно́ neuter
тот / та / то / те→that one (further away)
The trap→Э́то кни́га (this is a book) ≠ Э́та кни́га но́вая (this book is new)
Pointing: э́тот, э́та, э́то, э́ти
The demonstrative э́тот (this) agrees in gender and number with the noun it accompanies, exactly like an adjective.
Agreement of the demonstrative
| Masculine | э́тот | э́тот дом (this house), э́тот стол |
| Feminine | э́та | э́та кни́га (this book), э́та маши́на |
| Neuter | э́то | э́то окно́ (this window), э́то мо́ре |
| Plural (all genders) | э́ти | э́ти кни́ги (these books), э́ти лю́ди |
💡⚠️ э́то (“this is”) ≠ э́та / э́тот (“this”)
This is THE beginner trap. э́то on its own = “this is… / here is…”, invariable, used to present. э́тот/э́та/э́то + noun = “this…”, agreeing. Compare: Э́то кни́га (this is a book) and Э́та кни́га но́вая (this book is new).
Э́то мой брат. (this is my brother — presentative)
Э́тот брат — ста́рший. (this brother is the elder — agreeing)
Э́то окно́. / Э́то окно́ откры́то. (this is a window / this window is open)
Further away: тот, та, то, те
To point at something further away (that one, over there), use тот, which agrees the same way. In everyday speech, э́тот remains the most frequent.
э́тот (here) vs тот (there)
1
э́тот — near
Э́тот стол свобо́ден. (this table is free)
Мне нра́вится э́та пе́сня. (I like this song)
2
тот — far / opposite
Не э́тот дом, а тот. (not this house, but that one)
В тот день шёл дождь. (that day it was raining)
Dialogue: in a shop
Продаве́цЭ́то но́вая моде́ль. Вам нра́вится э́тот телефо́н ?
Клие́нтДа, но э́та су́мка дороже. А те очки́ — ско́лько стоят ?
Продаве́цЭ́ти очки́ стоят две ты́сячи рубле́й.
Клие́нтХорошо́, я возьму́ э́тот телефо́н и э́ту су́мку.
Salesperson: This is a new model. Do you like this phone? — Customer: Yes, but this bag is more expensive. And those glasses over there, how much are they? — Salesperson: These glasses cost two thousand roubles. — Customer: Good, I’ll take this phone and this bag.