Russian
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Contents
Articles
Russian 1
Russian/Contents 1
Russian/Alphabet 3
Russian/Typing 5
Russian/Lesson 1 9
Russian/Lesson 2 15
Russian/Lesson 3 17
Russian/Lesson 4 30
Russian/Lesson 5 36
Russian/Numbers 39
Russian/Appendix/Tables of declension 42
Russian/Grammar/Adjectives 45
Russian/Grammar/Introduction 47
Russian/Grammar/Articles 48
Russian/Grammar/Gender 48
Russian/Grammar/Pronouns 49
Russian/Grammar/Cases 50
Russian/Grammar/Nominative 52
Russian/Grammar/Genitive case 56
Russian/Grammar/Dative case 58
Russian/Grammar/Accusative case 59
Russian/Grammar/Instrumental case 60
Russian/Grammar/Prepositional case 60
Russian/Grammar/Noun cases 63
Russian/Grammar/Past tense 65
Russian/Grammar/Verbs 66
Russian/Grammar/What and Which 68
Russian/Names 68
Russian/Loanwords 70
Russian/Cursive 73
Russian/Prepositions 74
Russian/Verbal Aspect 77
Russian/False Friends 79
Russian/Interrogative Pronouns 80
Russian/Personal Pronouns 81
Russian/Possessive Pronouns 82
Russian/Vocabulary 84
Russian/Geographical Names 84
Russian/Useful Words and Expressions 87
Russian/Various Stuff 89
Russian/Cheat Sheet 92
References
Article Sources and Contributors 94
Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors 96
Article Licenses
License 97
Russian 1
Russian
RUSSIAN
РУССКИЙ
Learning the Russian Language, for English Speakers
Содержа́ние (Contents)
Russian/Contents
The Russian Wikibook is a collaborative effort to create a
comprehensive textbook for learners of the Russian language. Russian
is an East Slavic language, related to Ukrainian and Belarusian, and is
spoken by over 350 million people. This book includes four sections: a
main text curriculum, a grammar supplement, an appendix, and a
vocabulary. The main text guides the student through the lessons and
provides everything to understand the texts that are to be understood.
The grammar supplement provides a greater detail into the concepts
presented in the lessons. The appendix is there to refer to for usage and
МоскваMoscow, the capital of Russia
other miscellaneous concepts. The vocabulary groups words into
concept-based sections for studying.
Содержа́ние (Contents)
• Предисло́вие (Foreword)
• Áзбука (Alphabet)
Гла́вы (Chapters)
1. Как тебя́ зову́т? (What is your name?)
2. Lesson 2 - Introducing yourself.
3. Lesson 3 - Basic Grammar.
4. Lesson 4 - Vocabulary.
5. Lesson 5 - Text.
Russian/Contents 2
Грамма́тика (Grammar)
• Introduction
• Adjectives
• Articles
• Gender
• Pronouns
• Cases
• Nominative
• Genitive
• Dative
• Accusative
• Instrumental
• Prepositional
• (Noun cases)
• Past tense
• Verbs
• What and Which
Приложе́ние (Аppendix)
• Russian Names
• Alphabet - Overview of Cyrillic. Typing.
• Loanwords
• Cursive
• Prepositions
• Verbal Aspect
• False Friends
• Pronouns
• Interrogative Pronouns
• Personal Pronouns
• Possessive Pronouns
Слова́рь (Vocabulary)
• Vocabulary
• Numbers
• Geographical names
• Useful Words and Expressions
• Various Stuff is a collection of stuff that can be used at other places later.
Internet Resources
Contributors
Russian/Contents 3
References
[1] http:/ / en. wikibooks. org/ w/ index. php?title=Template:Russian& action=edit
Russian/Alphabet
Russian language · Русский язык
Lessons Introduction · Alphabet · Lesson 1 · Lesson 2 · Lesson 3 · Lesson 4 · Lesson 5 (view) ( edit
[1]
)
Reference Numbers · Declensions · Adjectives · Conjugations · Prepositions · Verbal Aspect · Interrogative
Pronouns · Personal Prn. · Possessive Prn. · Cursive
Appendices Appendix · Alphabet · Internet · Cheat Sheet
Russian alphabet
The Russian alphabet has 33 letters. It descended from the Greek alphabet, so while some may appear like the
English alphabet, the pronunciation might be very different. It consists of 21 consonants and 10 vowel letters. The
last two, ь, and ъ , are neutral, as they do not designate sounds.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33
А Б В Г Д Е Ё Ж З И Й К Л М Н О П Р С Т У Ф Х Ц Ч Ш Щ ъ Ы ь Э Ю Я
а б в г д е ё ж з и й к л м н о п р с т у ф х ц ч ш щ ы э ю я
Similar to English: easiest to grasp, their sound resembles the English sound
"Greek" letters: easy for people that know Greek. Л is pronounced like Lambda.
• Voiced consonants with voiceless counterparts become unvoiced before voiceless consonants, e.g. "водка"
(vodka) is pronounced /votka/.
• Similarly, voiceless consonants with voiced counterparts become voiced before voiced consonants, e.g.
"футбол" (soccer/football) is pronounced /fudbol/.
• Vowel is only fully pronounced when it is under accent. In the non-accented (weak) position, vowel is
"reduced" to the neutral sound. Spelling, on the other hand, doesn't depend on whether position is accented or
not. This particularly applies to the 'o'.
2. The hard sign (Ъ/ъ) indicates that the preceding consonant is not palatalized. However, it has been very rarely
used since the spelling reform of 1918.
3. The soft sign (Ь/ь) indicates that the preceding consonant is palatalized.
4. The vowels Е/е, Ё/ё, И/и, Ю/ю, Я/я make the consonants before them palatal consonant. This means that one
pronounces the consonant with the middle of the tongue raised, pressing against the hard palate.
Pronunciation mnemonics
1. Letters identical to their latin equivalents : к о м е т а (comet)
2. "Greek" letters: г л ф (as in Gamma, Lambda, Phi). Try also, the Russian word, флаг, which means "flag".
3. да (da) нет (nyet): two easy Russian words that show you how д, н and е are pronounced
4. суши-бар (sushi-bar): these are popping up all over the place in St. Petersburg... this word is a very useful way of
learning how с, у, ш, и, б and р are pronounced
5. хип-хоп (hip-hop): actually, the х is a much harsher sound, like the "ch" in Scottish "loch", but otherwise
хип-хоп music can help you learn х and п
6. союз (Soyuz): useful for learning the ю and the з (which you should just think of as a cursive latin Z)
7. я (ya/I;) and вы (vy/you): pronouns you'll be using most often when talking with strangers, as in "do you speak
English? I do not speak Russian". Unlike English, pronouns can be ommited due to context in the present and
future tenses.
8. царь (tsar) and чай (chai): for keeping your ц and ч straight
See also
• How to type Russian
Lesson 1 >>
Russian/Typing 5
Russian/Typing
Russian language · Русский язык
Lessons Introduction · Alphabet · Lesson 1 · Lesson 2 · Lesson 3 · Lesson 4 · Lesson 5 (view) ( edit
[1]
)
Reference Numbers · Declensions · Adjectives · Conjugations · Prepositions · Verbal Aspect · Interrogative
Pronouns · Personal Prn. · Possessive Prn. · Cursive
Appendices Appendix · Alphabet · Internet · Cheat Sheet
This page overviews how to type in the Cyrillic alphabet, which is used in the Russian language.
Stuck in a lab/cafe/library?
Even if you have no administrator access, you can still type in Cyrillic! It might not be ideal, but it will do in a pinch.
Please see the excellent 'Virtual Keyboard for Russian and Ukranian' by Paul Gorodyansky. Google for it, or try
here: http://www.russianaa-brooklyn.com/VirtKbd/screen_e.htm [1]
Ubuntu 9.04
Step 4 tweaking
• If you want to switch layout via keyboard---
• Right click on the applet
• Go to keyboard preferences
• Layouts
• Layout Options
• Keys to switch layout
• If you are using the USA Russian Phonetic layout you can use a 'level 3' key to instantly let you type punctuation
and other normal US-english characters. Look under layout options/keys for level 3.
• Alternative: You can also use SCIM
KDE
Note: the X server configuration (see #XFree86 below) may conflict with KDE settings if you change both.
Make sure you have Russian i18n installed. Go to Regional & Accessibility - Keyboard Layout in the KDE Control
Center. Add the Russian layout to your active layouts. You might want to choose the phonetic Layout variant
(yawerty, or яверты). With the flag icon in your taskbar you can now switch between different layouts.
Many letters now are where you expect them to be (for example s - с, p - п, g - г), but some others are harder to find:
• `ю
• =ч
• [ш
• ]щ
• \э
• # ё (shift 3)
• $ Ё (shift 4)
Mac OS X
You don't need to install any software or fonts, but you do need to add Russian to your computer's list of languages.
Open System Preferences from the Dock and click on 'International'.
There you will find a tab called 'Languages' containing a list which may already include Russian. If it isn't there,
click 'Edit List' and add it.
Don't put Russian at the top of your list unless you want to start using Russian date styles or list attributes in all of
your applications.
Another tab called 'Input Menu' in the same place will allow you to choose a keyboard layout such as Cyrillic or
Phonetic.
Then you can switch keyboard layouts and languages at any time using the flag icon in the top-right of the screen.
Russian/Typing 7
Windows
Instructions follow for adding a
traditional Russian keyboard layout for
Windows, however many may prefer
to use a phonetic Russian keyboard
layout. The setup is slightly more
involved as the user must either create
or use an existing third party keyboard
layout. One way to set up common
versions of Windows with a phonetic Russian layout is to follow Paul Gorodyansky's instructions on his
"Russification" site using files he has created for this purpose. The relevant English language page is http:/ / winrus.
com/kbd_e.htm.
Windows XP
To set up the keyboard for Cyrillic Russian/Ukraine in Windows XP
1. click on 'Start'
2. Go to 'Control Panel'
3. Click 'Regional & Language Options'
4. Click 'Language' tab
5. Click 'Settings'
6. Add 'Russian'
7. Click 'Apply' and then 'OK'
Russian/Typing 8
Windows Vista
To add the Cyrillic keyboard for use on your computer:
1. Click on the windows logo in the bottom left hand corner
2. Click the Control Panel button (or clickable text if you have it set that way)
• For ease of finding this, press in the left pane "Switch to classic view"
1. Now select Regional and Language Options
2. Click on the Keyboards and Languages tab
3. Press Change Keyboards
• A window should appear that lists all the installed languages to your computer. This window should be called
Text Services and Input Languages
1. Press Add...
2. Now scroll down to where it says Russian (Russia)
3. Expand that menu by pressing the +
• If the dropdown menu Keyboard isn't already expaneded, press that too
1. Now checkbox Russian and press OK, and then Apply.
• If this is the first language you've added to this computer, a small icon near your taskbar that says "EN" should
appear, to change the input language to Russian for whatever window you have opened, press it and select RU.
• Please note, every time you change windows (say from an IM window to your browser) it will keep your
language setting on the previous window, and the new one will be set to use your default input language, which is
most likely EN.
Keyboard icon wil show on taskbar. Left click to toggle between English and Russian.
As an added help, apply keyboard stickers for Cyrillic Russian/Ukraine. You can find them on e-Bay, under 'stickers,
Keyboard, under Computer/Networking. They are available in several colors and are quite reasonable.
XFree86
XFree86 4.3 may be configured for Russian keyboard layout in the Keyboard InputDevice section of the
configuration file (typically /etc/X11/XF86Config). Add the following two lines to that section:
This arrangement will allow you to switch between US and Russian layouts by pressing the shift keys together. Note
that this configuration is independent of the desktop environment (GNOME, KDE) or window manager (sawfish,
metacity, kwin) in use, and might conflict with it if you change both.
X.Org
Same as XFree86, but the configuration file is called “xorg.conf”.
References
[1] http:/ / www. russianaa-brooklyn. com/ VirtKbd/ screen_e. htm
Russian/Lesson 1 9
Russian/Lesson 1
Russian language · Русский язык
Lessons Introduction · Alphabet · Lesson 1 · Lesson 2 · Lesson 3 · Lesson 4 · Lesson 5 (view) ( edit
[1]
)
Reference Numbers · Declensions · Adjectives · Conjugations · Prepositions · Verbal Aspect · Interrogative
Pronouns · Personal Prn. · Possessive Prn. · Cursive
Appendices Appendix · Alphabet · Internet · Cheat Sheet
Dialogue
Саша: Привет! Меня зовут Саша. Как тебя зовут?
Катя: Привет, Саша. Меня зовут Катя. Как дела?
Саша: Хорошо. А у тебя?
Катя: Очень хорошо.
Саша: Я студент. А ты студентка?
Катя: Да, я студентка.
Смольный институт The Smolny Institute, which
Саша: Ну, пока.
was used as Lenin's headquarters during the
Translation (wait until the end of the lesson). October Revolution.
Hello!
Здравствуйте!
Russian/Lesson 1 10
Hello здрáвствуйте ·
здрáвствуй ·
Hi привéт · X
Goodbye до свидáния · O
вас зову́т.. O
• "Как тебя зовут?", the phrase used to ask someone's name, translates to "How do they call you?"
• "Очень приятно", means "very pleasant."
Examples
• Как тебя зовут?
What is your name?
• Меня зовут Пётр.
My name is Pyotr.
• Очень приятно.
Nice to meet you.
Grammar
• It should now be obvious that тебя and вас are interchangeable, the former used in casual / familiar settings and
the latter in formal settings; вас is also the plural form of "you". An example may be у вас есть хлеб? meaning,
"do you have bread?" - being the plural and formal both.
Russian/Lesson 1 12
• With the first phrase comes an interesting note. Because the function of words is mostly determined by
declension, word order is mostly free. "Меня зовут Пётр" and "Пётр меня зовут" mean the same thing. "Mostly"
is highlighted, however, because some combinations do not work, so avoid straying too far from the word order
of the examples until later.
Go to the exercise.
Russian names
Russian names for people are composed of a given name, a
patronymic, and a family name. The given name is a person's first
name, and is usually chosen by the parents at birth. The patronymic is a
derivation of the father's name, modified by gender. The family name
is the name shared by the immediate family and passed down by the
male descendants, but also modified by gender.
Badly пло́хо
А у вас? O
Who is this?
—Кто это?
—Это Миша. Он лев.
—Ясно. Очень приятно.
I am.. Я.. ·
You Ты.. X
are..
Вы.. O
He is.. Он.. M
Student студе́нт · M
студе́нтка F
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 "is" and articles: Russian does not use the existence verb "быть" in the present tense, or articles
such as "a", "an", or "the." Simply following "я" (I, me) with a noun suffices to say "I am a.." However, in written
Russian, 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."
Russian/Lesson 1 15
• 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.
Go to the exercise.
Summary
In this lesson, you have learned
• How to greet people (Привет, доброе утро).
• How to introduce yourself (Меня зовут Иван).
• How to introduce others (Это Сергей).
• How to say how you are (Хорошо, неплохо).
Finish the exercises and translate the introductory dialogue before moving on.
Lesson 2 >>
Russian/Lesson 2
Russian language · Русский язык
Lessons Introduction · Alphabet · Lesson 1 · Lesson 2 · Lesson 3 · Lesson 4 · Lesson 5 (view) ( edit
[1]
)
Reference Numbers · Declensions · Adjectives · Conjugations · Prepositions · Verbal Aspect · Interrogative
Pronouns · Personal Prn. · Possessive Prn. · Cursive
Appendices Appendix · Alphabet · Internet · Cheat Sheet
Произноше́ние Pronunciation
Russian letters do not always sound the same. The pronunciation depends on their position in the word and on the
stress of the letter. Reduced О (when not stressed) sounds like А, as in the A in about. Reduced Е (when not
stressed) sounds like И, as in the E in piglet. However, this reduction is not so strong as in the case of O. If you
pronounce these letters without reducing them you will be understandable, but sound strange. Voiced consonants at
the end of the word become unvoiced. Таз sounds like tas, взвод sounds like vzvot. The same thing happens if a
voiced consonant is followed by an unvoiced one. For example, "подско́к" sounds like patskók.
Диало́ги Dialogs
Comment: If you talk to one person and would like to make it respectful, use "Вы" and not "Tы". You need to use
"вы" with a small first letter character only if you need to talk to more than one person. You can also to the audio
version of this dialog.
Здра́вствуйте, я рад (ра́да) Вас ви́деть!
Zdrastvuyti, ya rat (rada) Vas vidjet
Hello, I am glad to see you!
Note: ра́да(rada) is what a female speaker would say, while рад(rat) is what a male speaker would say. This means
glad.
До́брый день, и я то́же.
Russian/Lesson 2 16
Lesson 3 >>
Russian/Lesson 3 17
Russian/Lesson 3
Russian language · Русский язык
Lessons Introduction · Alphabet · Lesson 1 · Lesson 2 · Lesson 3 · Lesson 4 · Lesson 5 (view) ( edit
[1]
)
Reference Numbers · Declensions · Adjectives · Conjugations · Prepositions · Verbal Aspect · Interrogative
Pronouns · Personal Prn. · Possessive Prn. · Cursive
Appendices Appendix · Alphabet · Internet · Cheat Sheet
Я студeнт.
This means "I am a student" in Russian.
• "Я" means "I".
• "студе́нт", as you may remember from Lesson 1, means "student".
• Russian does not distinguish "a student" from "the student"; that is, it does not use articles ("a", "an", "the"). So
the above sentence could also be translated as "I am the student."
• Russian does not use the verb to be in the present tense. Instead, a dash separates the subject of the sentence from
the predicate (but the dash is not put between a pronoun and a verb).
Examples
я (I) мы (we)
forms of a verb) and "conjugal" (relating to marriage) come from the same root word (meaning "to join together"). In
other words, Russian women think that a man who can say "I study, you study, he studies, she studies, we study, they
study" correctly (in Russian) will make a good husband!
Another reason to learn "good Russian" is to prevent Alzheimer's. Working puzzles keeps your brain healthy. Think
of Russian grammar as a set of (really complicated) puzzles.
Native speakers learn grammar as children, by listening to adults talk, and being corrected by their mothers. A child
who reads a lot, and whose parents speak correctly, doesn't need to learn grammar rules. As an adult learning
Russian, you'll learn best if a native Russian listens to you and corrects your mistakes. But the grammar rules will act
as shortcuts, to help you learn faster.
When learning anything, some people are auditory learners, some are visual, and some are movement learners. (See
"The Open Mind," by Dawna Marcova, for more about this.) But all three learning styles are needed for organizing
and committing to long-term memory. You may prefer to hear spoken Russian, or see written Russian, or (for
movement learners) write a Russian word and then write how it sounds in English. You may need to do an activity,
such as cooking dinner, to pay attention. But all of us need to do all of these things to learn well.
Gender
You may guess correctly that the correct way to say "He is a student" in Russian is "Он студент." However, things
change a bit when talking about "она". As in many Indo-European languages—including English until several
hundred years ago—gender is an important feature of Russian grammar. Every noun, as well as the three
third-person singular pronouns, has a characteristic gender: masculine, feminine, or neuter.
Masculine nouns end in a consonant. Remember that й is a consonant.
Feminine nouns end in а or я.
Neuter nouns end in о or е.
Nouns ending in ь can be masculine or feminine. There's no rule, you just have to memorize these words.
Russian names
Russians use three names: first name, or имя; middle or patronymic name, or отчество, which is their father's first
name plus a suffix meaning "son of" (ович) or "daughter of" (овна); and the last name or family name, or фамилия.
Women's last names add an а to the masculine form of the name.
To address a Russian formally, don't use "Mr." or "Ms." Instead, address the person using his or her first name and
patronymic.
Russians use relatively few first names. There are only a dozen or so men's first names, and maybe three dozen
women's first names. Creativity in baby-naming isn't encouraged.
Russian/Lesson 3 19
Russians also use diminutives or nicknameslots! Each name typically has a version used by your best friend,
another used by your other friends, another used by your teachers, another used by your grandmother, another used
when you are scolded, etc.
Noun Cases
English uses word order to indicate a sentence's subject and object. E.g., "Bob eats lunch" and "Lunch eats Bob"
have different meanings in English. Word order is less important in Russian. Instead, meaning is conveyed by
suffixes. It would be like an eaten lunch becoming "lunchoo," so you could say "Bob eats lunchoo" or "Lunchoo eats
Bob," and still make it clear that it's the lunch that is eaten (not Bob).
This would be straightforward enough if there were simple one case for the subject of a sentence, and a second case
for the object of the sentence. Instead, Russian has six cases, conveying such meanings as where you are vs. where
you're going, or whether the object of the sentence is animate or inanimate!
Nominative case
The primary case, used for the subject of the sentence ("Bob"), is called the nominative case. This is the case you
find in dictionaries.
Accusative case
"Lunch" is the direct object of "Bob eats lunch." The direct object is used in the accusative case. Masculine and
neuter nouns in the accusative case are the same as nouns in the nominative case. Feminine nouns change their а or я
ending to у or ю, respectively. E.g., "car" is машина (pronounced "masheena") in nominative case, and машину
(pronounced "masheenoo")in the accusative case.
Prepositional case
When a sentence contains a complement of location, the noun is in the prepositional case. In general, you add е
(prounced "yeh") to end of the word. E.g., "I live in Michigan" becomes "I live in Michigane." If the word ends in й,
а, or я, replace that letter with е. E.g., "She is going to Minnesota" becomes "She is going to Minnesote."
There are two exceptions to the е ending. Never write ие, instead write ии (yes, Russians pronounce both, like
"ee-ee"). The other exception is foreign nouns ending in о, и, or у. These look the same as the nominative case. E.g.,
Colorado, Kentucky, and Peru don't change.
Nouns in the prepositional case are always preceded by "in" or "about." Each word comes in two versions. If "in" is
an activity, or a place where an activity is done (for example, the ballet) use на (pronounced "na"). For other places,
use в (pronounced "veh" or pronounced with the next word if it starts with a vowel, e.g., "in Atlanta" would be
"vatlanta").
"About" is о, or, if the following word starts with a vowel, об.
Russian/Lesson 3 20
Genitive case
The genitive case is used with numbers. E.g., "I have six chairs"(У меня есть шесть стульев) is plural both in
English and in Russian! It's genitive case.
Genitive nouns
Masculine and neuter nouns form the genitive case the same way: add а at the end. E.g., стол (sing. table) becomes
стола́, but столы́ (pl. tables) becomes столо́в. The exceptions are masculine words ending in й or ь add я. if the
word ends in a vowel, drop the vowel then add a.
Feminine nouns drop the а and add ы. E.g., лампа (lamp) becomes лампы. The exceptions are if the word ends in я
or ь, or for the 7-letter spelling rule, add и.
Genitive adjectives
Masculine and neuter adjectives form the genitive case the same way: change the ending to ого. This is pronounced
"ovo"! The exceptions are masculine words ending in й or ь, or for the 5-letter spelling rule with the ending
unstressed, change to его (pronounced "yevo").
Feminine adjectives change the ending to ой (rhymes with "boy"). The exceptions are feminine words ending in й or
ь, or for the 5-letter spelling rule with the ending unstressed, change to ей (pronounced "yay").
The possessive pronouns его́, её, and их (his, hers, theirs) never change.
Russian/Lesson 3 21
In other words, Russians don't say "Ivan has a dacha," but rather say "By Ivan has dacha."
Dative case
Dative case is used with the indirect object of a sentence. It is, when people want "to say something to her" or "to
give(to sell, to show and etc.) something to him", etc. (for example: He shows to her this beautiful picture (Он
пока́зывает ей э́ту прекра́сную карти́ну). Note here the difference between the direct object from earlier and the
indirect object: Ivan gives a letter (direct object, accusative case) to his sister (indirect object, dative case).
Russian/Lesson 3 22
я мне mnye to me
мы нам nam* to us
• The letter "а" in нам and вам is pronouncing as "U" in pronoun "Us".
Plural nouns
In English we add "s" (or "es") to indicate that a noun is plural. Russian isn't so simple.
Masculine nouns ending in a "hard" consonant add ы. E.g., студент (student) becomes студенты (students).
Masculine nouns ending in the "soft" consonants й or ь add и. E.g., словарь (dictionary) becomes словари
(dictionaries). If you speak Russian (without writing) you can "get by" without learning this distinction, as ы and и
sound similar.
Feminine nouns ending in а change the а to ы. Feminine nouns ending in я change the я to и. Thus masculine and
feminine nouns follow a similar pattern for plural. Again, if you only want to speak "get by" Russian you can ignore
this distinction because a and я sound similar.
Neuter nouns have a different pattern for plural. Neuter nouns ending in o change the o to a. Neuter nouns ending in
e change the e to я. Thus, neuter plural nouns look like feminine singular nouns.
Russian/Lesson 3 23
Note that these rules are for plural nouns. Plural adjectives follow different rules.
Exceptional plurals
Some masculine nouns drop the last vowel before adding ы or и. E.g., подарок (present or gift) becomes подарки.
Some masculine nouns add a for plural. E.g., дом (house) becomes дома (houses).
Words of foreign origin ending in o, и, or у don't change between singular and plural. E.g., радио means "radio" or
"radios." Note that foreign nouns with these endings also don't change in prepositional case (e.g., Colorado,
Kentucky, and Peru).
"Whose?"
The English question word "whose" translates to four Russian words, depending on gender:
чей (pronounced "chey") is masculine.
чья (pronounced "chyah") is feminine.
чьё (pronounced "chyo") is neuter.
чьи (pronounced "chyee") is plural.
If you just want to "get by," say "chee" and you'll be right about 50% of the time.
The possessive pronouns "my," "your," "our," "his," "her," and "their"
To learn to conjugate verbs as well as possessive pronouns, memorize the following order of pronouns:
я (I) ты (you, informal) он/она (he/she) мы (we) вы (you, formal and plural) они (they)
In this order, in English the possessive pronouns are "my, your, his, her, our, (no formal your), their." Russian makes
this complicated because four of these words change depending on whether the following noun is masculine,
feminine, neuter, or plural. Three don't change.
The three possessive pronouns that don't change are "his," "her," and "their." In Russian these are его ("his"),
pronounced "yehvo" (not "yehgo"); её, pronounced "yehyo" ("her yo-yo" would sound like "yeh-yo yo-yo"); and их
(pronounced "eech," like the German word for "I").
The four possessive pronouns that change are "my," "your" (informal and formal), and "our."
Russian/Lesson 3 24
"My" is мой (masculine, pronounced "moy," which sounds vaguely like a New York Yiddish version of "my"); моя
(feminine, pronounced "mo-yah"); моё (neuter, pronounced "mo-yo"), and мои (plural, pronounced "mo-ee").
"Your" (informal Ты) is твой (masculine, pronounced "tvoy"); твоя (feminine, pronounced "tvo-yah"); твоё (neuter,
pronounced "tvo-yo"), and твои (plural, pronounced "tvo-ee").
"Our" (Мы) is наш (masculine, pronounced "nash," not like "Nashville" but rhymes with "wash"); наша (feminine,
pronounced "nasha"); наше (neuter, pronounced "nashyeh"), and наши (plural, pronounced "nashee").
"Your" (formal Вы) is ваш (masculine, pronounced "vash", rhymes with "wash"); ваша (feminine, pronounced
"vasha"); ваше (neuter, pronounced "vash-yeh"), and ваши (plural, pronounced "vashee"). A memory aid is "your
car is a washing machine." Picture opening the hood of a car and finding a washing machine where the engine should
be. "Your car" is ваша машина (sounds like "washing machine").
Showing Ownership
In English, "my" and "I have" are different, just as "your" and "you have" are different. Russian makes a similar
distinctionbut it's more complicated.
First, the pronoun is in the genitive case (меня, тебя etc.), which indicates possession/ownership. The preposition
used with the genitive pronouns to indicate ownership is У (pronounced "oo"), meaning roughly "with".
The forms are as follows:
"I have": У меня (pronounced "oo meen-yah", meaning roughly "with me")
"You have" (informal): У тебя (pronounced "oo teeb-yah", meaning roughly "with you")
"You have" (formal): у вас (pronounced "oo vas")
"He has": у его (pronounced "oo ye-vo", meaning "with him")
"She has": у ее (pronounced "oo ye-yo", meaning "with her")
"We have": у нас (pronounced "oo nas", meaning "with us")
"They have": у их (pronounced "oo eech", meaning "with them")
Thus the question "У тебя карандаш?" when interpreted rather literally, means "With you is a pencil?" It is easy to
see how this can be correctly interpreted as "Do you have a pencil (with you)?" or even just "Do you own a pencil?"
These three phrases are sometimes followed by есть (pronounced "yehst", meaning "is"). Есть questions the
existance of something, e.g., У вас есть синий костюм? ("Do you have a blue suit?").
ты "you" (informal) ешь or чит'аешь ("read," pronounced "cheet-a-yesh") живёшь ("live," pronounced "zheevyosh")
ёшь
он/она "he," "she" ет or ёт чит'ает ("reads," pronounced "cheet-a-yet") живёт ("live," pronounced "zheevyot")
вы "you" (formal) ете or ёте чит'аете ("read," pronounced живёте ("live," pronounced "zheevyota")
"cheet-a-yehta")
они "they" ют or ут чит'ают ("read," pronounced "cheet-a-yout") жив'ут ("live," pronounced "zheevoot")
Second-conjugation verbs usually end in ить. These verbs conjugate by dropping the ть and replacing it with the
following endings:
Russian/Lesson 3 26
я бу́ду мы бу́дем
ты бу́дешь вы бу́дете
Reflexive verbs
In English we add "self" to a pronoun to indicate reflexive action. E.g., "I wash myself" is different from "I wash my
dog." In Russian, reflexive action is in the verb, not in the pronoun. E.g., a Russian would say something like "I
washself."
This reflexive action is indicated by the suffix ся added to the verb, if the verb ends in a consonant. But if the verb
ends in a vowel you instead add сь. Note that the former adds a syllable but the latter doesn't!
The verb учиться means "study" (pronounced "oo-cheet-syah"). The verb conjugates:
Lesson 4 >>
References
[1] http:/ / en. wikipedia. org/ wiki/ Grammatical_aspect
Russian/Lesson 4 30
Russian/Lesson 4
Russian language · Русский язык
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А Yes but… Ah
When a Russian girl names Anya misbehaves, her mother calls her "Anka."
English people use angled skis. That's why they're such bad skiers.
Russian/Lesson 4 31
"Channing" is one of those names that only an Englishman would name his son. An eccentric English angler (fisherman) named his son "Angle
Channing."
A billet is a short letter or ticket ordering a private home to provide lodging and food to a soldier.
Russian men remember their moms calling their cute little boots "booteenkees."
Britches.
В
Russian/Lesson 4 32
В, Во In Veh, Vo
"Во" is used for words beginning with two consonants if the first consonant is В or Ф.
Ваша машина means "your car" is a washing machine. Think of a car with a washing machine where the engine should be.
Russians like big shiny hair, so they use shampoo that gives volume and polish.
Don't confuse with журнал (magazine, zhoornal). A person who writes a newspapers and a person who writes a magazine are both a журналист
(zhoornalist). In other words, "journalist" is a more prestigious job title because magazines are more prestigious, so newspaper writers want to be
called "journalist" even though they should be called a "gazettist."
Australians are always late. The Australian greeting "G'day" doesn't mean "Good day," it means "Where were you?"
In A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess changed this to "gulliver," as in Gulliver's Travels, as in "we kicked him in the gulliver." Think of a
picture of Gulliver tied down by the Lilliputians, with the little people dancing around his head.
Russians have glossy voices. That's why they can make those sliding R's.
Novgorod is a city between Moscow and St. Petersburg. It means "new city."
Да Yes Da
Note that "good morning" rhymes, ending in o's. The other "good's" end in "ee."
"Sweet on ya"
That eat and is are homonyms suggests that "to be" and "to eat" are the same to a Russian. Or perhaps "you are what you eat"?
Ешё looks like "ewe." Picture a female sheep, standing still. Also picture another female sheep. And picture more female sheepa whole flock of
ewes.
Russian women use hair color that gives them sheen. Also note that жен and жить are the start of many words about women and living, so think of
Old World gender roles where a woman's place was in the home.
A cognate with the French word "gîte," pronounced "zheet," which is a country cottage you rent by the week. When asking where a Russian lives,
picture that he or she rents a cottage in the French countryside. Remember that Жить conjugates by changing the т to в, then the next vowel is ё: я
живу, ты живёшь, он/она живёт, мы живём, вы живёте, они живут.
З
Russian/Lesson 4 35
И And Ee
Russians walk silently in forests. They make less noise than Americans.
С
Russian/Lesson 4 36
Russian/Lesson 5
Russian language · Русский язык
Lessons Introduction · Alphabet · Lesson 1 · Lesson 2 · Lesson 3 · Lesson 4 · Lesson 5 (view) ( edit
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Reference Numbers · Declensions · Adjectives · Conjugations · Prepositions · Verbal Aspect · Interrogative
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Appendices Appendix · Alphabet · Internet · Cheat Sheet
Словарь (Vocabulary)
слова́рь - vocabulary; dictionary :
текст - text
э́то - this; this is / these are
он - he
Ва́ся Петро́в - Vasya Petrov (short for Васи́лий - Vasily)
ру́сский - Russian (male) (noun and adjective)
живёт - lives; жить to live
Москва́ - (Moskva) Moscow
ему́ - to him (dative case)
ему 12 (двенадцать) лет - he is 12 years old
лет - years (genitive plural); год - year
у́чится - (he, she) studies; учи́ться to study
шко́ла - school
в - in, at
в шко́ле - at school (prepositional case)
в шко́лу - to school (accusative case)
хоте́ть - to want, хо́чет - wants
Russian/Lesson 5 37
реши́л (decided - male singular), реши́ла (decided - female singular), реши́ли (decided - plural)
журнали́ст (m), журнали́стка (f) - journalist
ещё - still
ма́ленький - little, small
но - but
о́чень - very
рисова́ть (to draw), рису́ет (he/she draws)
Текст (Text)
Э́то Ва́ся Петро́в. Он ру́сский. Он живёт в Москве́. Ему́ 12 лет. Он у́чится в шко́ле. Он хо́чет стать лётчиком.
Он у́чится хорошо́. У Ва́си есть па́па и ма́ма, ста́ршая сестра́ Ле́на и мла́дший брат Ви́тя. Их дом недалеко́ от
шко́лы и Ва́ся хо́дит в шко́лу пешко́м.
Ва́ся лю́бит игра́ть в футбо́л и лови́ть ры́бу. У Ва́си мно́го друзе́й.
Ва́син па́па - программи́ст. Он рабо́тает в большо́м о́фисе иностра́нной фи́рмы. Ва́сина ма́ма - учи́тельница
англи́йского языка́ в шко́ле.
Ле́на сейча́с у́чится в университе́те. Она́ реши́ла стать журнали́сткой.
Ви́тя ещё ма́ленький, но он о́чень хорошо́ рису́ет.
Counting years:
1 год (nominative), 2 года, 3 года 4 года (genitive singular)
5 лет, 6 лет ... 20 лет (genitive plural)
21 год (nominative), 22 года, 23 года 24 года
25 лет, 26 лет ... 30 лет (genitive plural)
...
Russian/Numbers
Russian language · Русский язык
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Reference Numbers · Declensions · Adjectives · Conjugations · Prepositions · Verbal Aspect · Interrogative
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Cardinal numbers
0 ноль
1. один, одна, одно
2. два, две
3. три
4. четыре
5. пять
6. шесть
7. семь
8. восемь
9. девять
10. десять
11. одиннадцать
12. двенадцать
13. тринадцать
14. четырнадцать
15. пятнадцать
16. шестнадцать
17. семнадцать
18. восемнадцать
19. девятнадцать
20. двадцать
21. двадцать один
22. двадцать два
30 тридцать
40 сорок
50 пятьдесят
60 шестьдесят
70 семьдесят
80 восемьдесят
90 девяносто
100 сто
101 сто один
110 сто десять
133 сто тридцать три
Russian/Numbers 40
200 двести
300 триста
400 четыреста
500 пятьсот
600 шестьсот
700 семьсот
800 восемьсот
900 девятьсот
1,000 тысяча
1,000,000 один миллион
2,000,000 два миллиона
5,000,000 пять миллионов
1,000,000,000 один миллиард
2,000,000,000 два миллиарда
Ordinal numbers
Ordinal numerals in Russian are relatively easy to deal with. They all decline like adjectives. For example: Только
что фотографировала восемнадцатую девушку (She just photographed the eighteenth girl).
1. первый, первая, первое
2. второй, вторая, второе
3. третий, третья, третье
4. четвёртый
5. пятый
6. шестой
7. седьмой
8. восьмой
9. девятый
10. десятый
11. одиннадцатый
12. двенадцатый
13. тринадцатый
14. четырнадцатый
15. пятнадцатый
16. шестнадцатый
Russian/Numbers 42
17. семнадцатый
18. восемнадцатый
19. девятнадцатый
20. двадцатый
21. двадцать первый
22. двадцать второй
30th тридцатый
40th сороковой
100th сотый
1000th тысячный
10000th десятитысячный
1000000th миллионный
Russian/Appendix/Tables of declension
Russian language · Русский язык
Lessons Introduction · Alphabet · Lesson 1 · Lesson 2 · Lesson 3 · Lesson 4 · Lesson 5 (view) ( edit
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Reference Numbers · Declensions · Adjectives · Conjugations · Prepositions · Verbal Aspect · Interrogative
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Appendices Appendix · Alphabet · Internet · Cheat Sheet
Mnemonics
Ned Gets Drunk And I Pay
Masculine nouns
Masculine Russian nouns generally end in a consonant (hard ending), -й, or a soft sign (-ь) (soft endings). The
exceptions are generally animate: both diminutive forms of forenames (Алёша, Миша), and those nouns referring to
males, such as папа and дедушка, most often ending in -а. These are declined as if feminine, but with masculine
adjective and verb agreement.
This is the conjugation of a masculine, inanimate, hard noun in the singular and plural:
Russian/Appendix/Tables of declension 43
Singular Plural
First declension (masculine nouns ending with nothing and neuter nouns
ending with -о/-е)
little house
Third Declension (feminine nouns ending with -ь and neuter nouns ending
with -я)
white door
N (имени́тельный, кто́/что́ это?) бе́лая дверь
G (роди́тельный, нет кого́/чего́?) бе́лой две́ри
D (да́тельный, дава́ть кому́/чему́?) бе́лой две́ри
A (вини́тельный, вини́ть кого́/что́?) бе́лую ло́шадь (horse f.), бе́лую дверь
I (твори́тельный, горди́ться кем/чем?) бе́лой две́рью
L (предло́жный, говори́ть о ко́м/о чё́м?) о бе́лой две́ри
Russian/Appendix/Tables of declension 44
Fourth Declension (Plural only nouns and all the above nouns in plural form)
white tables
(singular form: white table, белый стол)
N (имени́тельный, кто́/что́ это?) бе́лые столы́
G (роди́тельный, нет кого́/чего́?) бе́лых столо́в
D (да́тельный, дава́ть кому́/чему́?) бе́лым стола́м
A (вини́тельный, вини́ть кого́/что́?) озорны́х ма́льчиков (naughty boys), бе́лые столы́
I (твори́тельный, горди́ться кем/чем?) бе́лыми стола́ми
L (предло́жный, говори́ть о ко́м/о чём?) о бе́лых стола́х
<!-- It seems the following examples belong to the plural form of the first declension, just as the above example.
курс - the course
Singular Plural
Singular Plural
• столовая
• столоваю
• столоваи
• столоваи
• столоваей
• столоваи
• дверь
• дверь
• дверя
• дверю
• дверем
• двере
Russian/Appendix/Tables of declension 45
Genitive plural
ei instead of of
Female, soft
Masculine, soft
Words ending in ьЯ
Russian/Grammar/Adjectives
The endings of adjectives change according to the gender and the case of the nouns that the adjective modifies. The
rule to remember is that Russian adjectives agree with nouns in gender, case, and number. You could simpify that
rule if you said that plural is a fourth gender, in which case the rule would be that Russian adjectives agree with
nouns in gender and case.
Hard endings
Adjectives modifying masculine nouns in the nominative case usually end in ый (pronounced "ee"). These are "hard
ending" adjectives. E.g., "new pencil" is новый карандаш (pronounced "no-vee karandash"). As a memory aid,
remember that masculine nouns end in a consonant or й, and the masculine ending for adjectives end in й (sorry,
you'll just have to associate "consonant" with ы).
With feminine nouns, the adjective ends in ая. E.g., "new car" is новая машина (pronounced "no-vah-yah
masheena"). As a memory aid, remember that feminine nouns end in а or я, so put these two endings together and
you have ая.
With neuter nouns, the adjective ends in ое. E.g., "new dress" is новое платье (pronounced "no-vo-yeh plat-yeh").
As a memory aid, remember that neuter nouns end in о or е, so put these two endings together and you have ое. ("Oh
yeah, that's easy to remember!")
With plural nouns, the adjective ends in ые. E.g., "new students" is новые студенты (pronounced "no-vih-yeh
studentih"). As a memory aid, think of plural as one masculine and one neuter object. Take the first letter from the
masculine ending (ы) and the second letter from the neuter ending (е) and you get ые.
Russian/Grammar/Adjectives 46
Soft endings
If an masculine adjective doesn't end in ый, then it is a "soft ending" adjective. When such an adjective modifies a
masculine noun, the adjective ends in ий. An example is синий (dark blue).
When such an adjective modifies a feminine noun, the adjective ends in яя. An example is синяя (dark blue).
When such an adjective modifies a neuter noun, the adjective ends in ее. An example is синее (dark blue).
When such an adjective modifies a plural noun, the adjective ends in ие (maintaining the memory aid that you take a
masculine object and a neuter object to get two objects). An example is синие (dark blue).
Russian/Grammar/Introduction
Are you learning Russian to "get by" on a one-week business trip to Moscow? Or do you want to learn "good
Russian"?
Russians will love you if you speak "good Russian." Educated Russians are extremely proud of their grammar skills,
and rightly so. Russian grammar is unbelievably complex. The Russian word for "good" sounds like "horror show,"
and if you want to learn "horror show Russki" (good Russian) prepare for some scary stuff!
If you learn Russian grammar, you'll see how precise a language can be, and how imprecise English is in
comparison. English is full of useless little words such as "a," "an," "the," "this," "that," etc. These words add no
meaning to sentences, they just make sentences "sound right." English also conveys meaning via word order and
context. Russian words communicate meaning so clearly that the order of the words can be mixed up. For example,
in Russian you can say "Bob eats lunch" or "Lunch eats Bob" and there's no doubt that Bob is doing the eating.
Pronouns ("I," "you," "they," etc.) are built into verbs, so Russians often drop pronouns without losing clarity. Thus
Russian sentences are typically shorter and less ambiguous than English. The price you pay for this efficient, precise
language is far more demanding grammar.
But to "get by" you need only basic grammar, but not the byzantine grammar of "good Russian." You could treat all
nouns as if they were masculine, and all verbs as if you are the person doing the action, and Russians would usually
understand your meaning. But you should read over the many grammar rules so that you have a clue what Russians
are saying. E.g., you should be able to recognize when a Russian uses the prepositional case, even if you only use the
nominative case.
Native speakers learn grammar as children by listening to adults talk, and by being corrected by their parents. A
child who reads a lot and whose parents speak correctly doesn't need to learn grammar rules. As an adult learning
Russian, you'll learn best if a native Russian listens to you and corrects your mistakes. But the grammar rules will act
as shortcuts, to help you learn faster.
In learning some people are auditory learners, some are visual, and some are movement learners. (See ISBN
1573240648 "The Open Mind" by Dawna Markova, for more about this.) But all three learning styles are needed for
organizing and committing to long-term memory. You may prefer to hear spoken Russian, or see written Russian, or
(for movement learners) write a Russian word and then write how it sounds in English. You may need to do an
activity, such as cooking dinner, to pay attention. But all of us need to do all of these things to learn well.
Russian/Grammar/Articles 48
Russian/Grammar/Articles
Russian lacks the articles "a", "an" and "the". English uses the definite article "the" to indicate a specific place, thing,
etc.: "I ate the orange" suggests there was only one orange, or it was in some way special. English uses the indefinite
articles "a" and "an" to indicate that the following noun is not specific, e.g., "I ate an orange" suggests there were
several oranges. Note that English only uses indefinite articles for singular nouns: "I ate oranges" (plural) lacks an
article.
Russian also lacks the present-tense forms of the verb "to be" ("am", "are" and "is").
Thus the English four-word sentence "I am a student" is just two words in Russian: "Я студент." In written Russian,
when a sentence has two nouns in a row, a is written between the nouns to indicate the verb "to be." E.g., "Tanya is
a student" translates to "Таня студент."
Russian/Grammar/Gender
Gender
Russian nouns are either masculine, feminine, or neuter. You can usually identify a noun's gender by its ending:
Masculine nouns end in a consonant. Remember that й is a consonant.
Feminine nouns end in а or я.
Neuter nouns end in о or е.
Nouns ending in ь can be masculine or feminine. There's no rule, you just have to memorize the gender of these
words.
Plural
Plural nouns can be treated as a fourth gender.
Masculine and feminine nouns generally add ы (if masculine) or change а to ы (if feminine). Those are called the
"hard endings." Words with "soft endings" й (masculine), я (feminine), and ь (masculine or feminine) add и (if
masculine) or change я to и (if feminine).
Neuter nouns change о to а ("hard ending"), and change е to я ("soft ending").
Exceptional plurals
Some masculine nouns drop the last vowel before adding ы or и. E.g., подарок (present or gift) becomes подарки.
Some masculine nouns add stressed a for plural. E.g., дом (house) becomes дома́ (houses).
Words of foreign origin ending in o, и, or у don't change between singular and plural. E.g., радио means "radio" or
"radios." Note that foreign nouns with these endings also don't change in prepositional case (e.g., Colorado,
Kentucky, and Peru).
Russian/Grammar/Pronouns 49
Russian/Grammar/Pronouns
Personal Pronouns
Use nominative case pronouns for the subject of the sentence.
you (formal and plural) вы ("vee") о вас ("o vas") у вас ("oo vas")
Russian/Grammar/Cases
Russian has six cases. Cases are suffixes (word endings) that tell you the context of word. English has almost no
cases. However, sometimes we make up cases in English. For example, my friend refers to her dog as a "doggie," his
paws as "pawsies," his ears as "earsies," his bed as his "beddie," etc. So when she says, "Your earsies are filthy!" I
know that she's talking about the dog's ears, not mine.
The nominative case indicates the subject of a sentence. The other five cases indicate the object of the sentence. E.g.,
for the sentence "I washed my dog," "I" is the subject and "dog is the object. The subject and object are always nouns
or pronouns.
Cases affect nouns, adjectives modifying the nouns, and possessive pronouns ("my," "your," etc.). Going back to the
doggie example, my friend might say that her dog has "cutesy pawsies." She modifies the adjective to match the
noun. Remember that possessive pronouns, adjectives, and nouns are used together ("My stinky dog"). In contrast,
pronouns are used with verbs ("I walk ).
Adjective endings agree with the nouns they modify in gender and case. They also agree in number, but I think of
plural as a fourth gender, to make things simpler. Russian has six cases and four genders (including plural), so
adjectives have, in theory, 24 possible endings! Luckily there's overlap between the cases, so there are less than 24
actual endings for you to learn.
Signal words often precede a case.
Nominative case
Именительный падеж
The nominative case is used for a sentence's subject. In "Bob eats lunch," Bob is the subject. This is the case you find
in dictionaries.
• Nominative case nouns, adjectives, and personal pronouns
Genitive case
Родительный падеж
The genitive case is used for a sentence's object to indicate the following contexts:
• Negation, e.g., "I don't have a car." The genitive case is preceded by нет ("no," actually a contraction of не есть,
or "not there is").
• Numbers. E.g., "I have six chairs" is plural in English but not plural in Russian! The genitive case is preceded by
a number.
• Part of something, or "some," or "any." E.g., "My house has a red roof" ("red roof" is genitive). The genitive case
is preceded by любой (any). "Some" doesn't have a word in Russian, it's expressed by putting words into genitive
case.
• "Of," e.g., the house of the teacher ("teacher" is genitive). "Of" doesn't have a word in Russian, it's expressed by
putting words into genitive case.
This is similar to the English possessive pronouns: "He is my friend", but "His car is red", or "She is my girlfriend"
but "Her car is yellow". But the Russian genitive case is also used to indicate more than just possession.
• Genitive case nouns, adjectives, and personal pronouns
Russian/Grammar/Cases 51
Dative case
Дательный падеж
The Dative case is used in cases of indirect objects. As in English, sentences do not always have indirect objects.
Indirect objects indicate "to whom", or "to what" an action is done.
• Dative case nouns, adjectives, and personal pronouns
Accusative case
Винительный падеж
The accusative case is used for a sentence's direct object. In "Bob eats lunch," "lunch" is the direct object. In English
we use word order to indicate subject and object (subject is first, object last). In English, "Bob eats lunch" and
"Lunch eats Bob" have different meanings. But in Russian, a suffix indicates whether a word is the subject or object.
If English indicated the direct object by adding "oo," we could say "Bob eats lunchoo" or "Lunchoo eats Bob" and
either way it would clear that Bob was doing the eating.
In English, a few pronouns still have the accusative (objective) case: "Who is it?" but "Whom did you meet?",
although the latter can also be expressed with "who" instead of "whom". Also, "He met me" but "I met him" – if you
change word order here, the meaning remains the same: "Me met he" and "Him met I". The other pronouns being
"they" -> "them", "she" -> "her", "we" -> "us".
• Accusative case nouns, adjectives, and personal pronouns
Instrumental case
Творительный падеж
The instrumental case is used with the preposition with, such as in: I rode with Jane.
It is also used with the preposition with to indicate by what means an action was performed - such as in: I wrote with
the pen.
• Instrumental case nouns, adjectives, and personal pronouns
Prepositional case
Предложный падеж
The prepositional case is used for a sentence's object to indicate that a sentence's object is a location or an activity.
• Prepositional case nouns, adjectives, and personal pronouns
• Next: Nominative case
• Back to Table of Contents
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Russian/Grammar/Nominative 52
Russian/Grammar/Nominative
Nouns
The nominative case is used for a sentence's subject. In "Bob eats lunch," Bob is the subject. This is the case you find
in dictionaries.
Nominative case masculine nouns end in a consonant. Remember that й is a consonant. Some masculine nouns in the
nominative case end in ь.
Nominative case feminine nouns end in а or я. Some feminine nouns in the nominative case end in ь.
Nominative case neuter nouns end in о or е.
Plural Nouns
Nominative case plural masculine and feminine nouns with "hard endings" end in ы. For masculine nouns ending in
a consonant, add ы. For feminine nouns ending in а, replace the а with ы.
Nominative case plural masculine and feminine nouns with "soft endings" end in и. For masculine nouns ending in a
й or ь, replace that letter with и. For feminine nouns ending in я or ь, replace that letter with и.
Nominative case plural neuter nouns end in а or я. Change the о to а, or the е to я.
Exceptional plurals
Some masculine nouns drop the last vowel before adding ы or и. E.g., подарок (present or gift) becomes подарки.
Some masculine nouns add a for plural. E.g., дом (house) becomes дома (houses).
Words of foreign origin ending in o, и, or у don't change between singular and plural. E.g., радио means "radio" or
"radios." Note that foreign nouns with these endings also don't change in prepositional case (e.g., Colorado,
Kentucky, and Peru).
Adjectives
Dictionaries show adjectives in their form for modifying a nominative case masculine noun.
Hard endings
Adjectives modifying masculine nouns in the nominative case usually end in ый (pronounced "ee"). These are called
"hard ending" adjectives. E.g., "new pencil" is новый карандаш (pronounced "no-vee karandash"). As a memory
aid, remember that masculine nouns have two possible endings: any consonant, which you'll have to associate with
ы, or the consonant й. Put these two endings together and you have ый.
With feminine nouns, the adjective ends in ая. E.g., "new car" is новая машина (pronounced "no-vah-yah
masheena"). As a memory aid, remember that feminine nouns have two possible endings: а or я. Put these two
endings together and you have ая.
With neuter nouns, the adjective ends in ое. E.g., "new dress" is новое платье (pronounced "no-vo-yeh plat-yeh").
As a memory aid, remember that neuter nouns have two possible endings: о or е. Put these two endings together and
you have ое. ("Oh yeah, that's easy to remember!")
Russian/Grammar/Nominative 53
With plural nouns, the adjective ends in ые. E.g., "new students" is новые студенты (pronounced "no-vih-yeh
studentih"). As a memory aid, think of plural as one masculine and one neuter object. Take the first letter from the
masculine ending (ы) and the second letter from the neuter ending (е) and you have ые.
Soft endings
Some nominative case masculine adjectives end in ий, not ый. These are called "soft ending" adjectives. An example
is синий костюм (dark blue suit, pronounced "seenee costume").
When a "soft ending" adjective modifies a feminine noun, the adjective ends in яя. An example is синяя сумка (dark
blue purse, pronounced "seen-yah-yah soomka").
When a "soft ending" adjective modifies a neuter noun, the adjective ends in ее. An example is синее платье (dark
blue dress, pronounced "seen-yeh-yeh plat-yeh").
When such an adjective modifies a plural noun, the adjective ends in ие. This maintains the memory aid that you
take a masculine object and a neuter object to get two objects. An example is синие ботинки (dark blue shoes,
pronounced "seenee-yeh boteenkee").
Personal Pronouns
English Nominative Prepositional Genitive
who кто ("keh-to") о ком (about who? "o kom") у кого (who has? "oo kovo")
I Я ("yah") oбо мне (about me, "o mnyeh") у меня (I have, "oo mnyah")
you (informal) ты ("tee") о тебе (about you, "o у тебя (you have, "oo
tyehbyeh") tyehbyah")
he он ("on") о нём (about him, "o nyom") у него (he has, "oo nyeh-vo")
she она ("ona") о ней (about her, "o nyay") у неё (she has, "oo nyeh-yo")
we мы ("mee") о нас (about us, "o nas") у нас (we have, "oo nas")
you (form. вы ("vee") о вас (about y'all, "o vas") у вас (you have, "oo vas")
plur.)
they они ("onee") о них (about them, "o neech") у них (they have, "oo neech")
Possessive pronouns
Russian/Grammar/Nominative 54
Your (formal or plural) ваш ("vash") ваша ("vasha") ваше ("vashyeh") ваши ("vashee")
"His," "her," and "their" (его, её, ех) are the same in all genders and cases.
Memory aids
Think of Che Guevara drinking a chai to balance his chi. But then he walks away, leaving his chai on the table, and
someone asks "Whose chai is this?" A waiter responds, "It's Che's chai." "Che" (pronounced "chay") is masculine,
because Che Guevara was a man (a very masculine man, with a moustache and a motorcycle!). "Chi" (pronounced
"chee") animates many forms of life so it's plural. "Chai" is a nice warm drink your mother might make, so it's
feminine, and Russians pronounce it "chyah") (not really, "chai" in Russian means "tea"). If you just want to "get
by," say "chee" and you'll be right about 50% of the time.
Мой {"my") sounds close enough to "my" to be a cognate. It sounds vaguely like a New York Yiddish version of
"my."
Твой ("your") is confusing because it looks like ты ("you," pronounced "tee") but the former has a в and the latter
has a ы. These letters are pronounced very differently!
Remember that его ("his") is pronounced "yevo," not "yego." "Yevo" sounds more masculine "yego."
Think of a woman playing with a yo-yo. It's her yo-yo.
In Yiddish, "nosh" is a light meal or snack (it's both a noun and a verb). Think of meeting a friend to share a plate of
lox and bagels. It would be "our nosh," or in Russian "наш nosh" (pronounced "nosh nosh").
Think of opening the hood of an important Russian official's car and finding a washing machine instead of an engine.
You would ask ваша машина ("vasha masheena")? That sounds like "washing machine" but means "your car?".
If you speak German, think of их as pronounced the same as "ich" (I). If you don't speak German, think of two
women standing on one chair, while a mouse runs around the room. The women are screaming, "Eek! A mouse!"
Remember that there are two on the chair. They are screaming "Eek!"
Russian/Grammar/Nominative 55
Demonstrative Pronouns
это ("ehta") translates to "this" or "these."
Note that it starts with э ("eh"), not е ("yeh") or з (z).
When это is followed by a nominative case noun, это changes to match the gender of the noun:
Demonstrative Adjectives
English Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural
Russian/Grammar/Genitive case
Nouns
Genitive case masculine and neuter nouns usually end in а. For masculine nouns ending in a consonant, add а at the
end. E.g., стол (table) becomes стола. For masculine nouns ending in й, change й to я. For neuter nouns, change the
о or е to а.
Genitive case feminine nouns usually change the а ending to ы. E.g., лампа (lamp) becomes лампы. The exceptions
are if the word ends in я or ь, or for the 7-letter spelling rule, change я or ь to и.
Signal words
These words precede the genitive case:
• of
• some
• no, or other negation words
• any
• numbers
• comparison, e.g., "older"
Adjectives
Masculine and neuter adjectives form the genitive case the same way: change the ending to ого. This is pronounced
"ovo" (because it sounds more masculine than "ogo"!).
The exceptions are masculine words ending in й or ь, or for the 5-letter spelling rule with the ending unstressed,
change to его (pronounced "yehvo").
Feminine adjectives change the ending to ой (rhymes with "boy"). The exceptions are feminine words ending in й or
ь, or for the 5-letter spelling rule with the ending unstressed, change to ей (pronounced "yay").
Personal Pronouns
Genitive case is also used for saying you have something, or you don't have something. To say that you have
something, start with У (means "by" or "next to"). Then change the pronoun (я, ты, вы, etc.) according to the table.
In other words, Russians don't say "Ivan has a dacha," but rather say "By Ivan has dacha."
Russian/Grammar/Genitive case 57
who кто ("keh-to") о ком (about who? "o kom") у кого (who has? "oo kovo")
I Я ("yah") oбо мне (about me, "o mnyeh") у меня (I have, "oo mnyah")
you (informal) ты ("tee") о тебе (about you, "o у тебя (you have, "oo
tyehbyeh") tyehbyah")
he он ("on") о нём (about him, "o nyom") у него (he has, "oo nyeh-vo")
she она ("ona") о ней (about her, "o nyay") у неё (she has, "oo nyeh-yo")
we мы ("mee") о нас (about us, "o nas") у нас (we have, "oo nas")
you (form. вы ("vee") о вас (about y'all, "o vas") у вас (you have, "oo vas")
plur.)
they они ("onee") о них (about them, "o neech") у них (they have, "oo neech")
Possessive Pronouns
English Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural
The masculine and neuter forms of genitive case possessive pronouns are the same.
"His," "her," and "their" (его, её, ех) are the same in all genders and cases.
Demonstrative Pronouns
English Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural
Demonstrative Adjectives
English Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural
Some numbers
English Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural
Russian/Grammar/Dative case
Nouns
The dative case is the case of indirect object — that is, an object that the verb has some sort of indirect effect upon.
Examples: I gave the letter to my father. I did it for myself.
Demonstrative Adjectives
English Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural
Russian/Grammar/Accusative case
Nouns
Accusative case masculine, neuter, and plural nouns follow the same pattern. For inanimate objects, accusative case
is the same as nominative case. For animate objects, accusative case is the same as genitive case. (There are no
neuter animate objects.)
Accusative case feminine nouns change their а or я ending to у or ю, respectively. E.g., "car" is машина
(pronounced "masheena") in nominative case, and машину (pronounced "masheenoo") is accusative case.
For example, picture a mother with a little boy named Бобчик (Bobchik). We would say Мама любит Бобчика
("Mama loves Bobchik," genitive case) and Бобчик любит маму ("Bobchik loves Mama," accusative case).
Adjectives
Adjectives modifying accusative case masculine and neuter nouns are the same as nominative case (or genitive case
for animate objects).
Adjectives modifying accusative case feminine nouns end in ую, e.g., новую (new, "nov-oo-you").
Possessive pronouns
Masculine, neuter, and plural accusative case possessive pronouns are the same as nominative case. Only the
feminine case changes.
Your (informal) твой ("tvoy") твою ("tvoyou") твоё ("tvoyo") твои ("tvoee")
Your (formal or plural) ваш ("vash") вашу ("vashoo") ваше ("vashyeh") ваши ("vashee")
"His," "her," and "their" (его, её, ех) are the same in all genders and cases.
• Next: Prepositional case
• Back to Table of Contents
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Russian/Grammar/Instrumental case 60
Russian/Grammar/Instrumental case
Nouns
Signal words
The Instrumental case is not always preceded by a preposition.
However, there are some prepositions that can be followed by the instrumental case. One of them is the preposition
с, which means with.
Demonstrative Adjectives
English Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural
Russian/Grammar/Prepositional case
Nouns
The prepositional case is used only for the object of a sentence. It indicates that a sentence's object is a location or an
activity.
In general, you add е (pronounced "yeh") to end of a noun. E.g., "I live in Michigan" becomes "I live in
Michiganyeh."
If the noun ends in й, а, or я, replace that letter with е. E.g., "She teaches in Minnesota" becomes "She teaches in
Minnesotyeh."
Exceptions:
• Never write ие, instead write ии (Russians pronounce both, like "ee-ee").
• The other exception is foreign nouns ending in о, и, or у. These look the same as the nominative case. E.g.,
Colorado, Kentucky, and Peru don't change.
Plural nouns
Plural nouns in the prepositional case usually end in ах (pronounced "ach"). The ending is ях (pronounced ("yach")
for soft-ending (й or ь) nouns.
Signal words
The prepositional case is always preceded by one of four Russian words, which translate into two English words:
• "In" translates to в (pronounced "veh" or pronounced with the next word if it starts with a vowel, e.g., "in Atlanta"
would be "vatlanta") if the location is static. "In" translates to на (pronounced "na") for activities, or a location
where an activity is done (for example, the ballet).
• "About" translated to о (pronounced "oh"), or, if the following word starts with a vowel, об (pronounced "ob").
Russian/Grammar/Prepositional case 61
Adjectives
Adjectives modifying prepositional case masculine and neuter nouns usually end in ом. For adjectives with "soft
endings" (й or ь) or for the 5-letter spelling rule, the ending is ем.
Adjectives modifying prepositional case feminine nouns usually end in ой (pronounced "oy"). For adjectives with
"soft endings" (й or ь) or for the 5-letter spelling rule, the ending is ей (pronounced ("yay").
Adjectives modifying prepositional case plural nouns usually end in ых (pronounced "ihch"). For adjectives with
"soft endings" (й or ь) or for the 7-letter spelling rule, the ending is их (pronounced ("eehch"). As a memory aid,
remember ах ых as the endings for prepositional case adjectives and nouns.
Personal Pronouns
Я читаю о них. "I read about them." Prepositional case personal pronouns (and question words) are always preceded
by о (about). In other
who кто ("keh-to") о ком (about who? "o kom") у кого (who has? "oo kovo")
I Я ("yah") oбо мне (about me, "o mnyeh") у меня (I have, "oo mnyah")
you (informal) ты ("tee") о тебе (about you, "o у тебя (you have, "oo
tyehbyeh") tyehbyah")
he он ("on") о нём (about him, "o nyom") у него (he has, "oo nyeh-vo")
she она ("ona") о ней (about her, "o nyay") у неё (she has, "oo nyeh-yo")
we мы ("mee") о нас (about us, "o nas") у нас (we have, "oo nas")
you (form. вы ("vee") о вас (about y'all, "o vas") у вас (you have, "oo vas")
plur.)
they они ("onee") о них (about them, "o neech") у них (they have, "oo neech")
Possessive Pronouns
Russian/Grammar/Prepositional case 62
Your (informal) твоём ("tvo-yom") твоей ("tvo-yay") твоём ("tvo-yom") твоих ("tvo-eehch")
Our нашем ("nash-em") нашей ("nash-ay") (ш is always нашем ("nash-em") наших ("nash-eehch")
HARD)
Your (form. plur.) вашем ("vash-em") вашей ("vash-yay") вашем ваших ("vash-eehch")
("vash-yem")
"His," "her," and "their" (его, её, ех) are the same in all genders and cases.
Demonstrative Pronouns
English Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural
Demonstrative Adjectives
English Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural
Russian/Grammar/Noun cases
Russian has six cases. Cases are suffixes (word endings) that tell you the context of word. English has almost no
cases. However, sometimes we make up cases in English. For example, my friend refers to her dog as a "doggie," his
paws as "pawsies," his ears as "earsies," his bed as his "beddie," etc. So when she says, "Those earsies are filthy!" I
know that she means the dog's ears, not mine.
Russian/Grammar/Past tense
Normal Conjugation
читать (to read) is the verb for this example. Тake away the -ть ending and add:
Masculine: л
Feminine: ла
Neuter: ло
Plural: ли
Он читал книгу.
He read the book.
Она читала книгу.
She read the book.
Чикаго был большой.
Chicago was big.
Они читали книгу.
They read the book.
The endings do not change, whether the verb is perfective of imperfective, or whether the verb has first or second
conjugation.
Irregulars
The irregulars include идти, а verb of motion.
идти (to go by walking, perfective)
Masculine: шёл
Feminine: шла
Neuter: шло
Plural: шли
Irregulars
For intransitive verbs the infinitive ending of a verb is -ся, and conjugated like reflexives. То conjugate in the past
tense, the -ться ending is removed and replaced with л, ла, ло, or ли, depending upon the gender.
учиться (to learn)
Masculine: учился
Feminine: училась
Neuter: училось
Plural: учились
Russian/Grammar/Verbs 66
Russian/Grammar/Verbs
Russian language · Русский язык
Lessons Introduction · Alphabet · Lesson 1 · Lesson 2 · Lesson 3 · Lesson 4 · Lesson 5 (view) ( edit
[1]
)
Reference Numbers · Declensions · Adjectives · Conjugations · Prepositions · Verbal Aspect · Interrogative
Pronouns · Personal Prn. · Possessive Prn. · Cursive
Appendices Appendix · Alphabet · Internet · Cheat Sheet
In English we say, "I study," "you study," "he studies," "she studies," "we study," "they study." Note that some
pronouns use "study," while other pronouns use "studies." (Strangely, what looks like a plural verb is not used with
the only two plural pronoun"they" and "we"!) "Verb conjugation" is how verbs change with pronouns. English has
simple two-form verb conjugation ("conjugate" comes from the Latin term for "yoked together" because English
verbs come in pairs; "conjugal," meaning yoked together in marriage, comes from the same root).
Russian verbs conjugate in seven forms, for the infinitive or dictionary form, and for the six pronouns "I," "you
(informal)," "he" and "she," "we," "you (formal)," and "they."
Russian verbs conjugate in two regular patterns. In other words, some verbs are first conjugation, when others are
second conjugation.
All verbs have an infinitive form, which is listed in dictionaries. Typically this form ends in ть.
Every russian verb has two indicative forms: past form and present-future form. If you want to know the right way to
conjugate a verb in indicative, you must know it's three basic forms: muscle formof past tens, prent form to pronoun
"I" and to pronoun "HE/SHE/IT".
For example:
знать: pt знал, pr знаю, знает; to know, some man knew, I know, he/she/it knows.
First Conjugation
First-conjugation verbs that aren't in the second. They usually end in ать. These verbs conjugate by dropping the ть
and replacing it with the following endings. Читать means "to read". Жить means "to live" (usually in a place).
To construct the form for pronoun "I", we takes first person form of pr from a dictionary, to construct other personal
forms, we take the same first letter of ending, as for third person of pr in a dictionary.
English ending
Second Conjugation
Second-conjugation verbs end in -ить. These verbs conjugate by dropping the ть and replacing it with the following
endings. Говорить means "to talk".
Exceptions:
- 7 verbs with infinitive with ending –еть have second conjuration: видеть, вертеть, обидеть, зависеть, ненавидеть,
терпеть, смотреть.
- 3 verbs with infinitive with ending –ать have second conjuration: слышать, дышать, держать
- verb гнать (It has -ать too, but here's it's a part of the root)
- 2 verbs with infinitive with ending –еть have first conjuration: брить, стелить
English ending
I я ю говорю ("govor-you")
we мы им говорим ("govor-eem")
Note that verbs with они conjugate with ят, not ит!
Rule of thumb: In the present and futures tenses (which will be looked at later on), you can omit the pronoun as the
stem ending indicates who performs the action. i.e, you can just say "чита́ю " (I read/ I am reading) or "говори́шь"
(You speak/ you are speaking) and people will still understand you. This is not the case when talking about the past
or conditional tenses of imperfective and perfective verbs (the reasons will be explained later). The same rules also
apply in Ukrainian and Belorussian.
Russian/Grammar/What and Which 68
Russian/Names
Russian language · Русский язык
Lessons Introduction · Alphabet · Lesson 1 · Lesson 2 · Lesson 3 · Lesson 4 · Lesson 5 (view) ( edit
[1]
)
Reference Numbers · Declensions · Adjectives · Conjugations · Prepositions · Verbal Aspect · Interrogative
Pronouns · Personal Prn. · Possessive Prn. · Cursive
Appendices Appendix · Alphabet · Internet · Cheat Sheet
Russian names
Russians use three names: first name, or имя; middle or patronymic name, or отчество, which is their father's first
name plus a suffix meaning "son of" (ович) or "daughter of" (овна); and the last name or family name, or фамилия.
Women's last names add an а to the masculine form of the name.
To address a boss, a teacher, or somebody who is older or superior in rank use the person's first name and
patronymic. For instance: Василий Иванович!
To address a military or police officer use the rank and the officer's family name. For instance: Рядовой Иванов
(Private Ivanov). If you don't know the family name, use Товарищ and the rank. For instance Товарищ рядовой
(Comrade private).
To address a suspect, a former spouse, and other types that don't deserve the title Comrade, use гражданин fem.
гражданка (citizen). For instance: Гражданин, пройдёмте. (The citizen, follow me.)
The titles Господин fem. Госпожа (Mr. or Ms.) are reserved for wealthy foreigners. Ordinary citizens of foreign
countries are your comrades.
Russians use relatively few first names. There are only a dozen or so men's first names, and maybe three dozen
women's first names. Creativity in baby-naming isn't encouraged.
Russians also use diminutives or nicknameslots! Each name typically has a version used by your best friend,
another used by your other friends, another used by your teachers, another used by your grandmother, another used
when you are scolded, etc. Some of the most common examples include Sasha for Alexander, Alyosha for Alexei,
Misha for Mikhail, Dima for Dmitri, Lena for Elena, Olya for Olga, Natasha for Natalya and Katya for Ekaterina.
Russian/Names 69
Борис Boris Derived from Borislav, a pre-christian Slavic name meaning "good fighter"
Владимир Vladimir A pre-Christian Slavic name meaning "the Lord of the World"
Александра Aleksandra Alexandra (Be careful! It can also be the male form in genitive; it is usually known in context)
References
[1] http:/ / en. wikipedia. org/ wiki/ Russian_name
Russian/Loanwords 70
Russian/Loanwords
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Dutch
English
Russian English
дача Dacha
субботник Subbotnik
тройка troika
спутник sputnik
German
дача Datsche
субботник Subbotnik
French
• douche - душ
• plage - пляж
• garage - гара́ж
• bagage - бага́ж
• mirage - мира́ж
• virage - вира́ж
• cauchemar - кошма́р
• couchette - куше́тка
• coupé - купе́
• ensemble - анса́мбль (meaning "a band", not "together")
• chance - шанс
• avant-scène - авансце́на
• avant-garde - аванга́рд
• restaurant - рестора́н
• café - каф́е (a café, not coffee; read: каф́э)
• meuble - ме́бель
• trottoir - тротуар
Russian/Loanwords 72
Italian
Miscellaneous
Words that are very similar in Russian and other Indoeuropean languages
• mother - moeder (Dutch) - mutter (German) - mater (Latin) - мать
• daughter - dochter (Dutch) - дочь
• son - сын
• brother - брат
• sister - сестр́а
• my/mine - мой/моя́/моё́/мои́
• the sun - со́лнце (read: со́нцэ)
• house - domus (Latin) - дом
• cold - хо́лодно
• door - deur (Dutch) - дверь
• water - вода́
• love - любо́вь (noun), люби́ть (verb)
• нос - nose
To be classified
• chair/stool - stoel (Dutch) - Stuhl (German) - стул
• sport - спорт
• Saturday - zaterdag/sabbat (Dutch) - sabbath - суббо́та
Russian/Cursive 73
Russian/Cursive
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An example
Basic information
• Cursive is a style of writing in which most if not all letters in one word are connected by ancillary serifs. With
this method, a single word can usually be written in one stroke.
• Russian culture highly regards cursive, similar to the way Chinese culture exalts good calligraphy.
Russian/Prepositions 74
Russian/Prepositions
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Prepositions
Accusative Dative
• про - on the topic of • к or ко - to, towards
• сквозь • благодаря - thanks to
• через - in, after, by
Instrumental
Genitive
• над - on top of
• без - without • перед - in front of
• вне - outside of • между - in between
• вместо - instead of • c - with
• вокруг, около - around
• до - until
Prepositional
• для - for
• из - of, outside of • при - in times of, in the presence of
• из-за - from behind • о or об - on the topic of
• из-под - from below • на, в - in and on
• кроме - except (for)
• мимо - past (movement)
• от - off, from
• после - after
• у - at, close to
• среди - among
много+Gpl несколько+Gpl мало+ Gpl
Examples
Accusative:
Книга упала на пол.
The book fell on the floor.
За Родину!
For the Motherland!
Genitive:
Четыре стула стоят вокруг стола.
Four chairs are standing around the table.
Диван стоит у стены.
The couch is standing against the wall.
Он выходит из университéта.
He's coming out of the university.
Bозвращáюсь с рабóты.
I'm coming back from work.
Dative:
Ваза пододвинута к краю стола.
The vase is moved towards the edge of the table.
Идý к роди́телям.
I'm going to my parents'.
Instrumental:
Лампа висит под потолком.
The lamp hangs under the ceiling.
Игорь идёт с другом.
Igor walks with a friend.
Он стоит за дверью.
He's standing behind the door.
Prepositional:
Стол и стулья стоят в центре комнаты.
The table and the chairs are in the middle of the room.
Ваза стоит на столе.
The vase stands on the table.
Книга и вещи лежат на столе.
Russian/Prepositions 76
Russian/Verbal Aspect
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At the time of creation, this document will be left in great need of amplification. This, nevertheless, shall be a
start.
Introduction to Aspect
For most native speakers of English (and indeed of many other languages) one of the most inherently difficult tasks
in learning Russian is learning to cope with the complexity of Russian verbs. Unlike Spanish and German, for
instance, where the great difficulty lies in memorizing forms of verbs (both German and Spanish have many more
verbal forms than does the Russian system), the difficulty in Russian is in coming to understand a property inherent
to each verb: aspect.
Every Russian verb is either perfective or imperfective in aspect. In imprecise terms, the division is as follows:
perfective aspect verbs describe a complete action, while imperfective verbs describe a process or a state. Rather
than expound more theory here, we shall procede by considering an example.
Let us take the ideas "to speak", and "to do". First, we shall consider an example with imperfective verbs.
Мишa, что ты делал после обеда? Misha, what were you doing after lunch?
Я говорил с Катей. I was talking to Katya.
Note that the verbs here describe a process. It is also possible to consider this as a complete action, but as written the
concern is not with whether the action is complete, but simply what was happening. The first speaker wondered what
Misha was doing after lunch. The first speaker could be Misha's boss, wondering why he was not at his desk.
Миша, что ты сделал после обеда? Misha, what did you do after lunch?
Я сказал маме об отметках. I told mom about my grades.
In this example, the outcome of the complete action is of importance. The first speaker could be Misha's father,
wondering why his mother was so upset when he arrived home from work.
and почитать all mean "to read". The former is imperfective, and means quite simply "to read". The second verb
shown, прочитать, which is often given as the perfective "partner" of читать, means to read an entire work. The last
verb here, почитать, is also perfective. Being perfective, it also describes a complete action. It means "to read for
some period of time" or "to read for a while".
Some verbs are not governed by a simple affixal relationship, for example:
говорить (impf.), сказать (pf.) - to say, speak, tell брать (impf.), взять (pf.) - to take, get, obtain
To further complicate matters, these prefixes, which frequently turn an imperfective (process) verb into a perfective
(complete action) verb very often add some shade of meaning beyond the difference in aspect. For example, adding
the prefix раз to the verb говорить changes the meaning from "to speak" to "to converse". Разговорить is the
perfective verb meaning "to converse" or "to chat". It would be nice, though, it seems, to have a verb meaning "to
converse" without talking about a complete action. In fact there is such a verb, derived from разговорить:
разговаривать. Another example derived from the same root is the "pair" договориться (perfective) and
договариваться (imperfective) meaning "to agree". Infixes also affect the aspect of a verb, e.g., вставать
(imperfective) and встать (perfective), meaning to rise (from bed).
Furthermore there are some verbs which exist only in one aspect or the other without any semblance of a so-called
"aspectual partner", although these are rather rare. Жить and быть are two examples.
In short, Russian verbs do not come in tidy imperfective/perfective pairs, but for any verb you encounter, there is
probably a counterpart with related meaning of opposite aspect. A dictionary should help you find an opposite-aspect
verb if you don't know one. However, when first learning Russian, it is best to commit the more unusual aspectual
pairs to memory first, as they will be the most useful.
In conclusion
Verbal aspect is a very important feature of Russian, and should be considered (consciously or otherwise) whenever
a Russian verb is encountered or is to be rendered. If you consider aspect each time you encounter a verb, it won't
take long to get a good feel for aspect. As for producing Russian in writing or in speech, this is one more thing to
think about before you open the gates.
See also: the Wikipedia article about grammatical aspect
Russian/False Friends 79
Russian/False Friends
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False Friends
False Friends is a linguistics term given to words or letters that have similar appearance, but are pronounced
differently. There are 9 such false friends between Russian and English: В, Ё, Н, Р, C', У and Х.
Вв
Ёё
ё, yo
This letter represents the sound Yoh, like the greeting Yo without the w-glide at the end. It is always stressed in
Russian words. Keep in mind that Russians often write this letter as Е in informal text.
Example: Ёлка (YOLka), pronounced YOLL-kah, means "Christmas tree".
Нн
ен, en
Though it looks like an uppercase English H, it represents the same sound as the English letter N.
Example: Нос (NOS), is Russian for "nose".
Рр
эр, er
Don't mistake this for the English letter P. This letter is usually transliterated with R, but it's not pronounced like the
English R. Instead, it's trilled as in Spanish.
Example: Рок (ROK) is the genre "rock" in Russian.
Сс
эс, es
The English letter C has various pronounciations, but the Russian letter С is always like the English S.
Example: Суп (SUP), means "soup".
Уу
Russian/False Friends 80
у, u
This letter is transliterated with U and represents the oo sound in English tool. Stressed У is only a bit longer than the
unstressed counterpart; the pronunciation is the same otherwise.
Example: Утра (Utra), meaning "morning".
Хх
ха, kha or ha
This sound doesn't exist in English and is usually transliterated using two letters: Kh. It's pronounced as a voiceless
velar fricative, meaning that you should put your tongue in position to pronounce a K, but instead make a breathy,
voiceless H-sound with the tongue in the same position.
Example: Хвост (KHVOST) means "tail".
Russian/Interrogative Pronouns
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кто - who
что - what
где - where
куда - to where
откуда - from where
как - how
когда - when
Examples
Что это?
What is this?
Кто они?
Who are they?
Куда идёт Иван?
Where is Ivan going?
Откуда вы?
Where are you from?
Когда Павел и Марина ездят к родителям?
When are Pavel and Marina going to (their) parents?
Где их родители жили раньше?
Russian/Interrogative Pronouns 81
Russian/Personal Pronouns
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Eng N A G P D I
Russian/Possessive Pronouns
Russian language · Русский язык
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possessor
singular plural
acc
inan anim inan anim inan anim inan anim
The 3rd person possessive pronouns (его́ his, её her, его́ its, их their) take the gender and the quantity of the
possessing person/object:
"фильм" (movie) is of masculine gender, yet:
Бо́ря рассказа́л о его́ люби́мом фи́льме. (Borya told about his favorite movie.)
А́нна рассказа́ла о её люби́мом фи́льме. (Anna told about her favorite movie.)
"кни́га" (book) is of feminine gender, yet:
Его́ кни́га ста́ла бестсе́ллером. (His book became a bestseller.)
Её кни́га ста́ла бестсе́ллером. (Her book became a bestseller.)
"джи́нсы" (jeans) is a plural only noun, yet:
Его́ джи́нсы вы́глядели вызыва́юще. (His jeans looked outrageous.)
Её джи́нсы вы́глядели вызыва́юще. (Her jeans looked outrageous.)
The above rule is common to both English and Russian languages and is opposite to the one in French.
The reflexive(?) pronouns (свой his/her/its own m., своя his/her/its own f., своё his/her/its own n., свои his/her/its
own pl.), as well as all possessive nouns except the 3rd person ones take the gender and the quantity of the object in
possession:
"фильм" (movie) is of masculine gender, and:
Бо́ря рассказа́л о своём люби́мом фи́льме. (Borya told about his favorite movie.)
А́нна рассказа́ла о своём люби́мом фи́льме. (Anna told about her favorite movie.)
"Я не ви́дел твоего́ люби́мого фи́льма, Бо́ря." (I didn't see your favorite movie, Borya).
"Я не ви́дел твоего́ люби́мого фи́льма, А́нна." (I didn't see your favorite movie, Anna.)
"кни́га" (book) is of feminine gender, and:
Свое́й кни́ги он никогда́ не написа́л. (He never wrote his own book.)
Свое́й кни́ги она́ никогда́ не написа́ла. (She never wrote her own book.)
"Мо́жно, возьму́ твою́ кни́гу, Бо́ря?" (Can I take your book, Borya?)
"Мо́жно, возьму́ твою́ кни́гу, А́нна?" (Can I take your book, Anna?)
"джи́нсы" (jeans) is a plural-only noun, and:
Бо́ря наде́л свои́ джи́нсы. (Borya put on his own jeans.)
А́нна наде́ла свои́ джи́нсы. (Anna put on her own jeans.)
Тебе́ иду́т твои́ джи́нсы, Бо́ря. (Your jeans fit you, Borya.)
Тебе́ иду́т твои́ джи́нсы, А́нна. (Your jeans fit you, Anna.)
This rule doesn't apply to English, but agrees with the use of 1st and 2nd person possessive pronouns in French.
Russian/Vocabulary 84
Russian/Vocabulary
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Russian Vocabulary
• /Colors/
• /Rooms and Furniture/
• /Days of the Week/
• /Months/
• /Seasons/
• /Plants and Animals/
• /Music/
• Easily Confused Words
Russian/Geographical Names
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Geographical names
• Росси́я
Russian
Major cities
Russian/Geographical Names 85
in English на русском
языке
Moscow Москва́
St Petersburg Санкт-Петербу́рг
Yekaterinburg Екатеринбу́рг
Samara Сама́ра
• Ни́жний Но́вгород
• Челя́бинск
• Пермь
• Волгогра́д
• Тверь
• Росто́в-на-Дону́
• Каза́нь
• Уфа́
• Краснода́р
• Бе́лгород
• Воро́неж
• Курск
• Му́рманск
• Смоле́нск
• Орёл (ё is always accented, very often written as "е", without diacritics)
• Омск
• Новосиби́рск
• Ирку́тск
• Красноя́рск
• Комсомо́льск-на-Аму́ре
• Владивосто́к
• Хаба́ровск
Other Russian names
• Во́лга
• Ле́на
• Енисе́й
• Байка́л
• Чё́рное мо́ре
World
Countries
• Аме́рика
• США (сэ-ше-а́)
• Кана́да
• Фра́нция
• Герма́ния
• Кита́й
• И́ндия
Russian/Geographical Names 86
• Ита́лия
• Ям́айка
• Испа́ния
• Япо́ния
• Австра́лия
• Но́вая Зела́ндия
• Коре́я
• Вьетна́м
• Еги́пет
Cities
• Вашингто́н
• Нью-Йо́рк
• Бо́стон
• Рим
• Торо́нто
• Ло́ндон
• Берли́н
• Варша́ва
• Пра́га
• Бухаре́ст
• Лос-А́нджелес
• Но́вый Орлеа́н
• Пари́ж
• Сан-Франци́ско
• Си́дней
• Ме́льбурн
• Пеки́н
• То́кио
• Каи́р
Russian/Useful Words and Expressions 87
Хорошо́. (Kharasho)
Fine.
Я бу́ду борщ с больши́м коли́чеством смета́ны (в рестора́не) (Ya budu borshcht sbal'shim kalichistvuhm smitany
(fristarani))
I'll take borshch with lots of sour cream (in the restaurant).
Как Вас зову́т? (Kak Vac zovut?)
What is your name? (lit. "What do [they] call you?")
Когда́ Вы роди́лись? (Kogda Vy rodi lis?)
When were you born?
Где Вы роди́лись? (Gdye Vy rodi lis?)
Where were you born?
Где Вы живёте? (Gdye Vy zhivyotye?)
Where do you live?
Кто Вы? (Kto Vy?)
Who are you?
Где Вы? (Gdye Vy?)
Where are you?
Где Вы у́читесь? (Gdye Vy u chityes?)
Where do you study?
where’s the bathroom? где здесь туалет? /gdɛ zdesʲ tuaˈlɛt/ where here (is) (the) toilet?
Russian/Various Stuff
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Male, inanimate
singular plural
N этот мой первый красивый синий стол эти мои первые красивые синие столы
A этот мой первый красивый синий стол эти мои первые красивые синие столы
G этого моего первого красивого синего стола этих моих первых красивых синих столов
D этому моему первому красивому синему столу этим моим первым красивым синим столам
I этим моим первым красивым синим столом этими моими первыми красивыми синими столами
L этом моём первом красивом синем столе этих моих первых красивых синих столах
Male, animate
singular plural
N этот мой первый красивый синий кот эти мои первые красивые синие коты
A этого моего первого красивого синего кота этих моих первых красивых синих котов
G этого моего первого красивого синего кота этих моих первых красивых синих котов
D этому моему первому красивому синему коту этим моим первым красивым синим котам
I этим моим первым красивым синим котом этими моими первыми красивыми синими котами
L этом моём первом красивом синем коте этих моих первых красивых синих котах
Neuter
Russian/Various Stuff 90
singular plural
N это моё первое красивое синее кресло эти мои первые красивые синие кресла
A это моё первое красивый синее кресло эти мои первые красивые синие кресла
G этого моего первого красивого синего кресла этих моих первых красивых синих кресел
D этому моему первому красивому синему креслу этим моим первым красивым синим креслам
I этим моим первым красивым синим креслом этими моими первыми красивыми синими креслами
L этом моём первом красивом синем кресле этих моих первых красивых синих креслах
Female, inanimate
singular plural
N эта моя первая красивая синяя карта эти мои первые красивые синие карты
A эту мою первую красивую синюю карту эти мои первые красивые синие карты
G этой моей первой красивой синей карты этих моих первых красивых синих карт
D этой моей первой красивой синей карте этим моим первым красивым синим картам
I этой моей первой красивой синей картой этими моими первыми красивыми синими картами
L этой моей первой красивой синей карте этих моих первых красивых синих картах
Female, animate
singular plural
Expressions
every day - каждый день, ежедневно
every week - каждую неделю, еженедельно
every month - каждый месяц, ежемесячно
every year - каждый год, ежегодно
compass points N S E W
Russian/Various Stuff 91
север
запад восток
юг
• Yugoslavia - Югославия
• Vladiwostok - Владивосток
Various words
• big - большой
• good - хороший
• new - новый
• old - старый
• old man - старик
• cold - холодный (прилагательное), холодно (наречие)
• refrigerator - холодильник
• kitchen - кухня
• televison - телевизор
• table - стол
• chair - стул
• furniture - ме'бель (only singular)
• to be engaged in - заниматься
• to know - знать
• circle - круг (фигура), кружок (клуб)
• course - курс
• letter - письмо
• night - ночь
• to work - работать
• participant - участник
• bread - хлеб
• good - хорошо
• bad - плохо
Address notation
The reverse order is used: first city, underneath street and at the bottom the person the letter is sent to. The lines are
marked with abbreviations: г. (город - city), ул. (улица - street), д. (дом - building) of бл. (блок - blok), кв.
(квартира - apartment) of ап. (апартамент - apartment):
г. Москва 115114
ул. Петрова, д. 14, кв. 15
Иванову Борису
Note two things about the name of the addressee: 1) the name is in the dative case (because the letter is being sent to
this person) and 2) the last name comes first, then the first name, and finally the patronimic if it is applicable and will
be included. This order is not only used for letters, but is used in nearly all official documents printed (or written) in
Russian.
Russian/Various Stuff 92
Also note that an индекс (6 digits), which is something like an American zip code, should probably be included as
well, but I've been told by Russians that the индекс is not vital to the arrival of your parcel. But correct индекс
makes arrival more predictible in measure of time.
Finally: If sending mail internationally between Russian post and non-Russian post, I recommend including the
name of the addressee country in the language of the postal service of origin, as this part of the shipment must of
course be handled by domestic post. The rest of the address should be written in the language (and script) of the
destination. For example, if sending a letter to the address listed above from the United States, append the line
"RUSSIA" to the beginning. Likewise if sending mail home to the U.S. from Russia, append "США" to the head of
the address.
Russian/Cheat Sheet
This is the Cheat Sheet for the Russian for English Speakers Wikibook. It is intended to be a one page quick guide
to the Russian Language, and should serve as a reference to the general text, at http:/ / en. wikibooks. org/ wiki/
Russian, which is released under the GNU Free Documentation License.
The Alphabet
Аа Бб Вв Гг Дд Ee Ёё Жж Зз Ии Йй Кк Лл Мм Нн Оо Пп Рр Сс Тт Уу Фф Хх Цц Чч Шш Щщ ь Ыы ъ Ээ Юю Яя
ah b v g d ye yo zh z ee y k l m n o p r s t oo f kh ts ch sh shch [1] ɨ e yu ya
[2]
• O sounds like hello only when it is stressed. Otherwise it is pronounced as in money. One word with the three
variants of "O" is "хорошо". The first "o" is pronounced as "ah", the second as "uh", and the third as "oh".
• Consonants can be either hard or soft. They are hard unless followed by я, е, и, ё, ю, or ь.
• At the end of a word, or before unvoiced consonants (like T), the following pronunciations change: б→п, в→ф,
г→к, д→т, ж→ш, and з→с. Ex. ход → KHOT
• Palatalization (or soft consonants) means the letter is pronounced with the middle of the tongue. Ex: Pronounce
ball while holding your tongue.
General Expressions
Hello Здравствуйте ZDRASTvuytye
Yes да DA
No нет NYET
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Article Sources and Contributors 95
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Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors 96
License
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
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