Introduction(ru)

Tips

Russian does not have articles, nor does it normally use the verb “to be” in the Present tense.

AN EM-DASH IS USED INSTEAD OF "THE VERB “TO BE” BETWEEN THE TWO NOUNS: «МОККА — КОФЕ» ("A MOCHA IS COFFEE").

What is EM-DASH？

In TeX：

for a hyphen, type a hyphen (-); for an en-dash, type two hyphens (--); for an em-dash, type three hyphens (---); for a minus sign, type a hyphen in mathematics mode ($-$).

CASES AND WORD ORDER

Now you are ready to proceed to the main part of the tree!

We are happy that you have chosen our Russian course. Just to make it clear, we are using American English in this course—but don't worry, we will accept most versions of English where appropriate. Just be careful around expressions like "bathroom" or "1st floor", because these may mean different things than what you are used to.

As for Russian, we teach the standard language, which is based on the variation spoken around Moscow and Saint Petersburg, and we stick to the usage typical of these cities. Do not worry, though: for more than one reason Russian is rather uniform over the territory of Russia (still, there is some variation in pronunciation and a few items of everyday vocabulary). We try to stay neutral in style, with occasional trips into formal and informal language.

Russian is an inflected language, so the forms of nouns and modifying adjectives correspond to their role in the sentence.

These forms are called cases. Russian has 6 cases: Nominative, Accusative, Genitive, Prepositional, Dative and Instrumental. The Nominative is the dictionary form; as for the others, we are going to cover them gradually, one by one.

This allows for a more loose word order. But not random! A typical word order is subject—verb—object. “Old” information (the things you tell about) is normally closer to the beginning of the sentence which is probably why pronouns are often found closer to the beginning of a sentence than a noun would be :

• I know him. → Я его́ зна́ю.

• I know Maria. → Я зна́ю Мари́ю.

That includes words like “here”, “in this way”, “then” and so on.

Unlike English, adverbs are NOT universally grouped at the end. So pay attention to the typical positions for the expressions of time, place and manner. Eg. “very much” is typically in the end-position in English, but in Russian it is just before the thing that is "very" or “very much”:

• _She likes to read *_very much* = Она́ о́чень** лю́бит чита́ть

Вы где? /Где вы? Where are you?

MORE ON THE CASE SYSTEM

For now, we only study simple sentences that either use the dictionary form, the Nominative case, or use the Accusative (direct object of an action), which has the same form for many classes of nouns.

The case is defined by its use. Nevertheless, these forms have names, usually calques from Latin that reflect some typical use (but not the only one):

• Nominative (subject)

• Accusative (direct object)

• Genitive ("of" something)

• Prepositional (place or topic)

• Dative (recipient, "indirect" object)

• Instrumental (means of action)

As you can see, these names are of little use until you know what sentence, verb or preposition requires that you use that particular form.

some nouns of foreign origin are indeclinable, i.e. all their forms are the same. This includes words like метро, Дженни or кафе.

Personal pronouns

Ref: http://www.russianlessons.net/grammar/pronouns.php

	1st person	2nd person	3rd person (masc.)	3rd person (fem.)	3rd person (neut.).	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
English	I, Me	You	He, Him	She, Her	It	We, Us	You(formal, or plural)	They, Them
Nominative Case	Я	Ты	Он	Она	Оно	Мы	Вы	Они
Accusative Case	Меня	Тебя	Его	Её	Его	Нас	Вас	Их
Genitive Case	Меня	Тебя	Его	Её	Его	Нас	Вас	Иx
Dative Case	Мне	Тебе	Ему	Ей	Ему	Нам	Вам	Им
Instrumental Case	Мной	Тобой	Им	Ей	Им	Нами	Вами	Ими
Prepositional Case	Мне	Тебе	Нём	Ней	Нём	Нас	Вас	Них

Thou art

Russian makes a distinction between ты, singular "you", and вы, plural "you" (y'all). The latter also doubles for "polite" you, with verbs also in plural. And don't forget that the "excuse" in "Excuse me" is a verb!

• Use ты with friends and your family members

• Use вы with adult strangers, your teachers and in other formal interactions (at the store, the doctor's, the airport etc.)

• People use вы with those who are much older

• Nobody is "polite" toward kids

CONTRARY TO WHAT MANY NATIVE SPEAKERS HAVE COME TO BELIEVE IN THE LAST TEN OR FIFTEEN YEARS, THE POLITE "YOU" IS NOT AUTOMATICALLY CAPITALIZED IN RUSSIAN, AND NEVER WAS. SUCH CAPITALIZATION IS USED IN SOME FORMAL STYLES.

Possessive pronouns

Singular possessive pronouns

	1st Person				2nd Person
	Masc.	Fem.	Neut.	Plural	Masc.	Fem.	Neut.	Plural
English	My, Mine				Your, Yours
Nominative Case	Мой	Моя	Моё	Мои	Твой	Твоя	Твоё	Твои
Accusative Case (animate)	Мой Моего	Мою	Моё	Мои Моих	Твой Твоего	Твою	Твоё	Твои Твоих
Genitive Case	Моего	Моей	Моего	Моих	Твоего	Твоей	Твоего	Твоих
Dative Case	Моему	Моей	Моему	Моим	Твоему	Твоей	Твоему	Твоим
Instrumental Case	Моим	Моей	Моим	Моими	Твоим	Твоей	Твоим	Твоими
Prepositional Case	Моём	Моей	Моём	Моих	Твоём	Твоей	Твоём	Твоих

3rd Person : Always use Его (m.n) (his, its) or Её (f) (her) regardless of the case of the noun modified.

Plural possessive pronouns

	1st Person				2nd Person
	Masc.	Fem.	Neut.	Plural	Masc.	Fem.	Neut.	Plural
English	Our				Your, Yours
Nominative Case	Наш	Наша	Наше	Наши	Ваш	Ваша	Ваше	Ваши
Accusative Case (animate)	Наш Нашего	Нашу	Наше	Наши Наших	Ваш Вашего	Вашу	Ваше	Ваши Ваших
Genitive Case	Нашего	Нашей	Нашего	Наших	Вашего	Вашей	Вашего	Ваших
Dative Case	Нашему	Нашей	Нашему	Нашим	Вашему	Вашей	Вашему	Вашим
Instrumental Case	Нашим	Нашей	Нашим	Нашими	Вашим	Вашей	Вашим	Вашими
Prepositional Case	Нашем	Нашей	Нашем	Наших	Вашем	Вашей	Вашем	Ваших

3rd Person : Always use Их regardless of the gender and case of the noun modified.

Russian prepositions

Case	Preposition	Meaning
Nominative	в	'in' in idiomatic expressions meaning "become a member of group"
	за	'for' in questions "Что (это) за ...?" and exclamations "Что за ... !"
Genitive	без	'without'
	ввиду	'in view of'
	вдоль	'along'
	вместо	'instead of'
	вне	'outside'
	внутри	'inside' to indicate the position
	внутрь	'inside' to indicate movement
	возле	'near'
	впереди	'in front of'
	вследствие	'because of'
	вокруг	'round'
	для	'for'
	до	'up to, until, before'
	из	'out of'
	из-за	'out from behind, because of'
	из-под	'out from under'
	кроме	'besides, except'
	между	'between' used with the genitive only in a few phrases: читать между строк, между двух огней
	мимо	'past'
	напротив	'opposite'
	насчет	'about, as regards'
	около	'at the side of, near, around'
	от (ото)	'from, away from'
	относительно	'concerning'
	помимо	'besides, apart from'
	после	'after'
	посреди	'in the middle of'
	посредством	'by means of'
	подле	'alongside of'
	позади	'behind'
	против	'against'
	путём	'by means of'
	ради	'for the sake of'
	с (со)	'from, off, since'
	сверх	'on top of, over and above'
	свыше	'over, more than'
	среди	'among'
	у	'near, at, at the house of (possession)'
Dative	благодаря	'thanks to'
	вопреки	'despite'
	к (ко)	'towards, up to'
	по	'along, round, by means (communication), on (days)'
Accusative	в (во)	'into, to, in' when movement is involved
	за	'behind or beyond' when movement into a position is involved
	на	'on to, on' when movement is involved
	о	'against' in the sense of in contact with
	по	'up to' a certain point in space or time
	под	'under' when movement into a position is involved
	про	'about, concerning'
	c	'approximately, about' with nouns denoting measurement
	сквозь	'through'
	через	'across, through, over'
Instrumental	за	'behind, beyond'
	между	'between'
	над (надо)	'over, above'
	перед (передо)	'in front of, before'
	под (подо)	'under, below'
	с (со)	'with'
Prepositional	в (во)	'in, at' to define location where sth is situated or hapenning, in expressions of time
	на	'on, in, at' to define location
	о (об)	'about, concerning'
	по	'after, following'
	при	'at the time of, in the presence of, while'

I have a cat

English prefers to express ownership and “possession” with the verb “have”. In Russian “existence” is almost universally used instead (in the official/academic style «иметь» to have is OK to use).

Use it like that:

• У A есть X ~ by A there is an X → A has an X

The owner is in the Genitive case (more on that later) while X is formally the subject. For now we will only study the Genitive form for some pronouns.

Russian
у меня (есть)	I have
у тебя (есть)	you have
у него/неё/него (есть)	he/she/it has
у нас (есть)	we have
у вас, у Вас (есть)	you (plural and formal) have
у них (есть)	they have

Affirmative

Preposition у + pronoun in the Genitive case + есть+ noun in the Nominal case. The verb есть can be omitted.

Omit ”есть” if the existence of the object is obvious or not the point — very typical for describing traits or a number of objects (“Tom has a beautiful smile/large eyes”, “She has a very fat cat”). This also applies to expressing temporary states and illnesses (“She has a migraine”).

• У него уже есть машина. – He already has a car.

• У меня есть брат. – I have a brother.

• У неё серые глаза. – She has grey eyes.

Negative

Preposition у + a pronoun in the Genitive case + нет + noun in the Genitive case.

• У меня нет времени. – I have no time.

• У нас нет денег. – We have no money.

• У вас нет компьютера́. – You don’t have a computer.

Interrogative

Preposition у + a pronoun in the Genitive case + есть* + noun in the Nominal case. The verb есть can be omitted.

• У тебя есть друзья? – Do you have friends?

• У них есть билеты? – Do they have tickets?

I eat She eats

In English, the only way a verb changes in the present tense is that you add -s for the 3rd person singular. In Russian, all 6 forms are different and fit two regular patterns.

The first conjugation is used for verbs ending in "ть" but not "ить". It is the most common.

To form the verb for each person you need to drop the last two letters of the infinitive (normally "ть"), and add the appropriate ending ("ю", "ёшь", "ёт", "ем", "ёте" or "ют").

Let’s take a look at a verb that uses the first conjugation: работать (to work).

работать	to work	пьть	to drink
Я работаю	I work	я пью	I drink
ты работаёшь	you work	ты пьёшь	you drink
он/она работаёт	she/he/it works	она/он пьёт	she/he drinks
мы работаем	we work	мы пьем	we drink
вы работаёте	you work	вы пьёте	you drink
они работают	they work	они пьют	they drink

понимать(to understand)	Знать(To know)

Verbs where the infinitive ends in "ить" use the second conjugation.

The second conjugation uses the endings "ю" (or "у") "ишь" "ит" "им" "ите" "ят" (or "ат"), which replace "ить".

Note 1: The second conjugation is affected by the spelling rules.

Note 2: The first person singuar is affected by the rule of consonant mutation. Remember, this only applies to the first-person singular (Я).

говорить	to speak	слышать	to hear
Я говорю	I speak	я слышу	I hear
ты говоришь	you speak	ты слышишь	you hear
он/она говорит	she/he/it speaks	она/он слышит	she/he hears
мы говорим	we speak	мы слышим	we hear
вы говорите	you speak	вы слышите	you hear
они говорят	they speak	они слышат	they hear

However, There are a number of irregular verbs in Russian. (Verbs that don't exactly follow the above rules). eat «есть» and want «хоте́ть» are two of the four verbs that are irregular (that is, do not strictly follow any of the 2 patterns).

есть		хотеть	want
Я уже ем	I am already eating	я хочу	I want
ты ешь	you eat	ты пьёшь	you want
он/она ест	she/he eats	она/он хочет	she/he wants
мы едим	we eat	мы хотим	we want
вы едите	you eat	вы хотите	you want
они едят	they eat	они хотят	they want

Note that the "present" tense is formed from one stem and the "past" and infinitive from the second one. In general, these two are slightly different. For now, don't worry about the infinitive stem.

Words

Что это?	What is this?
где	where	Что	what
да	Yes	Нет	No
а	But	и	And / Both
не	not	или	Or
это(n)/эта(f)/этот(m)/эти(p)	this is	там	there
Здесь/тут	here	Вот	here is
уже	already

Вот is a demonstrative, translated as "here" but not referring to the location of something, but rather pointing to its existence or being of the noun referred to.

Вот квадрат.

Here is the square.

Где здесь яблоко? Where is the apple here? [Gde zdes' yabloko]

Здесь мальчик?

Is the boy here?[Zdes' mal'chik ]