Basic Russian Grammar, Omission of the Verb "to be" and Articles, Personal Pronouns and Gender

Question 1

Does the Russian language have an equivalent for “am”, “is” or “are”?

Answer 1

No, so Russian equivalent for “I am a lecturer” would be “Я лектор”.

Question 2

Does the Russian language use any definite (“the”) or indefinite (“a”) articles?

Answer 2

No.

“I am an English woman” would be translated “Я англичанка” (I English woman”).

“The tea” or “a tea” would be translated “Чай”.

Question 3

Can personal pronouns can be used in place of a noun?

Answer 3

Yes, for example, “boy” (noun) or “he” (personal pronoun).

Question 4

я

Answer 4

ya - I (or “I am”)

Remember! In Russian “я” is never a capital letter unless it is the beginning of a sentence

Question 5

ты

Answer 5

ty - you (informal, singular)

Question 6

он

Answer 6

on - he

Question 7

она

Answer 7

ona - she

Question 8

ona

Answer 8

ono - it

Question 9

мы

Answer 9

my - we

Question 10

вы

Answer 10

vy - you

formal, singular - then use a capital letter “Вы”, or plural - for group of people use “вы”

Question 11

они

Answer 11

oni - they

Question 12

What are the three gender categories of Russian nouns?

Answer 12

masculine - мужской (m), feminine - женский (f), neuter - средний (n)

Question 13

What letters do most masculine nouns end in?

Answer 13

Most masculine nouns end in a consonant or -й.

(Notice that the pronoun “он” (“he”) also ends with a consonant).

Examples: город - city, брат - brother, магазин - shop, музей - museum

Question 14

What letters do most feminine nouns end in?

Answer 14

Most feminine nouns end in -а or -я.

(Notice that the pronoun “она” (“she”) also ends with -a).

Examples: Москва - Moscow, дружба - friendship, книга - book, семья - family

Question 15

What letters do most neuter nouns end in?

Answer 15

Most neuter nouns end in -o or -e.

(Notice that the pronoun “оно” (“it”) also ends with -o).

Examples: утро - morning, письмо - letter, слово - word

Question 16

What word is an exception and belongs to two gender categories?

Answer 16

coffee / кофе

Masculine and neuter are both acceptable.

Question 17

What is the “awkward group”?

Answer 17

Nouns ending with -ь (soft sign).

Most of those are feminine but many are masculine, so it is necessary to learn the gender with each soft sign noun.

For example, all nouns ending with -чь, -жь, -шь are feminine.

Examples: мать - mother (f), ночь - night (f), дочь - daughter (f), конь - stallion (m), царь - tsar (m), день - day (m), автомобиль - automobile (m), тетрадь - exercise book (f).

Question 18

What is the gender category of nouns of foreign origin with endings -и, -у, and -ю?

Answer 18

Neuter unless they denote people.

Examples: такси - taxi (n), Мэри - Mary (f).

It is generally true that nouns denoting males are masculine and nouns denoting females are feminine. Thus Russian does not normally need equivalents of Mr/Mrs/Ms to show a person’s sex. The ending is enough: А.Смирнов is a man, while Т.Смирнова is a woman.