Quote Originally Posted by Seraph View Post
When you say/write simple phrase, just the direct indicitave, "this (item)" this car, this house, this girl, this boy, this toy, then use the declining этот.

When you are saying something with "is" in English, "what is this?" "this is a(n)/my/his/her ..." then use non-declining form, это. "Это моя собака." "Что это такой?" etc.
1)then why the sentence << Этот дом новый >> is correct? I don't completely get it...


2) what do you guys think about this rule I found?

"Use the indeclinable это to translate English phrases starting with 'This is', 'These are'.
Use the demonstrative pronoun этот (эта, это, эти) to translate such word combinations as 'this house ' - этот дом, 'this shirt' - эта рубашка, 'this dress' - это платье, 'these students' - эти студенты."