grammar & rules Flashcards
there are articles in russian?
NO! ‘a’ and ‘the’ don’t exist
what is to be in russian (present tense)
trick question! there’s no to be verb in the present tense russian
what is the nominative case
- subject of the verb/ doer of the action
what is the accusative case
- object of the verb/ to who or to which the action is done
- movement to
what is the genitive case
- of/ possession
example of genitive case
- the capital OF RUSSIA
- the boy’s brother = the brother OF THE BOY
example of nominative case
- THE DOG bit the man
example of accusative case
- the dog bit THE MAN
- she travels TO RUSSIA
How to turn an adjective into an adverb
- use their masculine form
- replace last two letters with an o
Example of turning adj. into and adverb (good —> well)
Хороший (in masc. form)
Хорошо (as an adverb)
What type of ending is -ность
Feminine ending
Your possessive (sing./ familiar)
Masc. = Твой
Fem. = твоя
Neuter = твоё
Your (pl./ formal)
Masc. = ваш
Fem. = ваша
Neuter = ваше
My
Masc. = мой
Fem. = моя
Neuter = моё
Our
Masc. = наш
Fem. = наша
Neuter = наше
His
Его (pronounced yevo)
Her
её (pronounced yeyo)
Their
Их ( is the same for masc. fem. And neuter)
The genitive case endings (masculine and neuter nouns)
- Masc. nouns endings in consonants add -a
- neuter nouns ending in -o are replaced with -a
- masc. nouns ending in -ь or -й, replaced by -я
- neuter nouns ending in -e are replaced by -я
- some masc. nouns drop the vowel o, e or ë from their last syllable when other endings are added e.g. Отец—> отца
Genitive case endings (fem. nouns)
- fem. nouns ending in -a are replaced with -ы
- fem. nouns ending in -я or -ь are replaced by -и
(But the can all be affected by the grammar rule e.g. Чашка —> чашки
Uses of the genitive case
- translate of
- translate ‘s’ e.g. a student’s day
- after some prepositions
- after numbers two, three or four
- after a lot of, much, little and few
- direct object of negative verb
- after нет
- after preposition у (in the possession of/ to have)
Prepositions which the genitive case is used after
after — после
w/o — без
until — до
opposite— напротив
around/ near —около
by/ near — у
from — от
from/ out of — из/ с
rules for the accusative case (masculine nouns)
Masc. nouns
- If noun inanimate, there’s no change.
- If noun is animate and ends in a consonant, add “а”.
- If noun is animate, replace “й”, with “я”.
- If noun is animate, replace “ь”, with “я”
dative case rules (masc. and neuter nouns)
-Masculine nouns (ending in consonant):
add -y
- Neuter nouns ending in o:
Replace -o with a -y
- masculine nouns ending in soft signs:
-ь -й are replaced w/ -ю
Neuter nouns ending in -e
replace -e w/ -ю
Neuter nouns ending in -мя
Replace-мя w/ -ени
Dative case rules (feminine nouns):
- ending w/ -a and -я replaced w/ -e
- ending w/ -ь replaced w/ -и
-ия to -ии
Dative form of personal pronouns
кто – кому (to whom)
Я — мне
Ты — тебе
Он/ оно —ему
Она — ей
Мы — нам
Вы — вам
Они — им
uses of the accusative case
- the direct object of the sentence
- used after prepositions в (to, into) and на (on, to) when they show motion towards something
rules for the accusative case (feminine nouns)
- Replace “а” with “у”.
- Replace “я” with “ю”.
- Does not change if it ends in a soft sign.
rules for the accusative case (neuter nouns & plural nouns)
- Inanimate nouns do not change (almost all neuter nouns are inanimate)
- plural nouns the accusative case ‘borrows’ from the other cases
- Inanimate nouns (not-alive) : Same as the nominative plural.
- Animate nouns (alive) : same as the genitive plural.
how to say dates in russian
- last number will be in the genitive case (in the neuter form)
- month will be in the genitive case, and all the months are the masculine
deceptive verb: слышать
- looks like 1st conj. but is actually 2nd conj.
- spelling rule in 3rd personal plural : они слышат (can’t have я after ш)
how to form the imperfect future tense
- use быть w/ future tense endings
- makes future tense of other verbs, when placed in front of the infinitive
- only used for continuous habitual actions in the future
usage of the imperfect future tense
when used in the future tense:
- I shall/ will (be)/ it will etc.
- to need (lit. = to me i shall/ will need
- i will/ shall have ( lit. = x will be in my possession)
- to have to – in the future tense ( lit. = i shall/ will be obliged)
быть conjugated in the future imperfect tense
я буду
ты будешь
он/ она/ оно будет
мы будем
вы будете
они будут
example of the future imperfect tense e.g. He will be; I shall have a sister; I won’t have a book; i will need a book; i will have to work
- он будет работать
- у меня будет сестра
- у меня не будет книги (noun is in the gen. case and verb is in 3rd person sing.)
- мне нужна будет книга
- я должна буду работать
adjectival case endings (masculine)
accusative = ый
genitive = ого
dative = ому
instrumental = ым
prepositional = ом
adjectival case endings (feminine)
acc. =ую
gen.= ой
dat. = ой
instrumental = ой
prep. = ой
adjectival case endings (neuter)
- same as masc. endings from gen.
acc. = ое
gen. = ого
dat. = ому
instrumental = ым
prep. = ом
soft adjectives explained and endings
- adjectives that always have soft endings
masc. = - ий
fem. = - яя
neuter = - оо
plural= -ие
when to use their own e.g. свой
- to distinguish clearly their own
- only use if they’re the subject of the sentence
case endings: possessives ‘my’ –masculine
acc. = мой
gen. = моего
dat. = моему
instrumental = моим
prep. = моём
case endings: possessives ‘my’ – feminine
acc. = мою
gen. = моей
dat. = моей
instrumental = моей
prep. = моей
case endings: possessives ‘my’ – neuter
acc. = моё
gen. = моего
dat. = моему
instrumental = моим
prep. = моём
conjugating -овать verbs
example: рисовать (to draw/ paint)
- take off the овать then add-y with group 1 conjugation endings:
я рисую
ты рисуешь
он/она рисует
мы рисуем
вы рисуете
они рисуют
how ‘to play sports’ in russian
- have to use verb заниматься (literally to occupy/ engage oneself in sport)
- then following noun/ object is in the instrumental e.g. заниматься спортом
difference between imperfective verbs and perfective verbs
- imperfective verbs have only 3 tenses
- perfective verbs: does completed tenses – perfect tense, pluperfect, present perfect
how to form the conditional in russian
- use past tense ( w/ imperfective verbs) and add бы after e.g. past tense + бы
how to say I speak a language in russian e.g. I speak russian
- говорить по-русски (lit.- to speak russianly)
- на русском языке (lit.= in the russian language)
instrumental case usages
-the instrumental case is used to indicate how something is done. In English we commonly use the words “by” or “with” to do this
how to form the past tense (imperfective tense)
- take off the last two letters add л (is masculine form
- if subject is feminine add -a
- if subject is neuter add -o
- if subject is neuter add -и
past tense of reflexive verbs (imperfective verbs)
- ignore the -ся ending add usual past tense ending
- if last letter is a consonant (masc. form) add-ся
- if last letter is a vowel (fem, neuter, pl. ) add -сь
example of читать (to read) in the past tense (imperfective)
я читал(a)
ты читал(a)
он/она/ оно читали(a) (o)
мы читали
вы читали
они читали
irregular past tense verbs
to be able – мочь ( мого, могла, могло, могли )
to eat – есть (ел, ела, ело, ели )
to go/ walk – идть (шёл, шла, шло, шли )
to be in the past tense
я был(a)
ты был(a)
он/она был(a)
мы были
вы были
они были
uses of быть in the past tense (imperfect tense)
- indicates a state of existence or location rather than an action e.g. He was in Moscow vs he was working
- works with to have to (должен) and to need (нужен) as auxiliary
- impersonal expressions (will be in the neuter endings
- to have in the past tense (uses gen. case)
how to form the instrumental case
masc:
- add -ом
-If noun ends in unstressed “ж”, “ц”, “ч”, “ш” or “щ”, then add “ем”
- Replace “й”and “ь” with “ем”, if stressed “ём”.
fem.:
-replace -a w/ -ой
- If ends in “ж”, “ц”, “ч”, “ш” or “щ”, replace “а” with “ей”
- Replace “я” with “ей”, if stressed “ёй”.
- Replace “ь” with “ью”
neuter :
- add -м to whatever the nominative ending is
things that can go wrong w/ the instrumental
spelling rule: after ж, ч, ш, щ, ц can’t have an unstressed -o becomes an -e
- if need an -o that needs to be unstressed instead of replacing it w/ ё, replace it w/ e (soft sounds)
how to form the continuous past in russian
- depends on what type of verb it is (take off last 2/3 letters)
- add ending depending on gender of subject:
Masculine: -л
Feminine: -ла
Neuter: -ло
Plural: -ли
conjugate Знать (to know) in the continuous past
Я знал - I knew (man speaking)
Я знала - I knew (woman speaking)
Он знал - He knew
Она знала - She knew
Оно знало - It knew
Они знали - They knew
masculine adjective case endings
nominative: -ый
accusative: -ый
genitive: -ого
dative: -ому
instrumental: -ым
prepositional: -ом
feminine adjective case endings
nominative: -ая
accusative: -ую
genitive: -ой
dative: -ой
instrumental: -ой
prepositional: -ой
neuter case endings
nominative: -ое
accusative: -ое
genitive: -ого
dative: -ому
instrumental: -ым
prepositional: -ом
pronouns in the instrumental case
Мной - Me
Тобой - You
Им - Him
Ей - Her
Им - It
Нами - Us
Вами - You (plural)
Ими - Them
how to conjugate verbs of motion: нести, вести, везти (to carry, lead, convey)
- they’re 1st conjugation (slightly irregular)
я несу
ты несёшь
он/ она несёт
мы несём
вы несёте
они несут
verbs of motion used for
perfective vs imperfective verbs
perfective verbs: only express perfect/ finished actions
imperfective verbs: express ongoing/ unfinished actions
what can be formed from the imperfective infinitive
- can form the present tense; the mperfective tense; imperfective future
forming perfective past tense e.g. прочитать
- formed same way as imperfective past by using perfective infinitive
- e.g. я/ ты/ он прочитал
я/ ты/ она прочитала
оно прочитало
мы/ вы/ они прочитали
how to form perfective future e.g прочитать (to read) |
- same way present tense imperfective is formed:
я прочитаю
ты прочитаешь
он прочитает
мы прочитаем
вы прочитаете
они прочитают
how to form perfective future e.g позвонить (to ring) ||
я позвоню
ты позвонишь
он позвонит
мы позвоним
вы позвоните
они позвонят
uses of imperfective aspects
- habit/ repeated actions
- unfinished/ ongoing action
- after certain verbs: what you begin to do; continue doing; stop doing
- the process of what you doing
uses of perfective aspect
- finished action
- series of events, each completed before the next one starts
- (paradoxially) the start of an action (often w/ prefixes
- doing an action for a limited time (w/ prefix -
how to ask questions in russian using ли
- invert verb and pronoun to ask a question
- place ли after the verb then rest of the sentence
he asked if I will be there using ли
он спросил буду ли я там
nominative plural endings (masculine and feminine)
-masc nouns ending in a constant and fem. nouns ending in -a take ending -ы (can change due to spelling rule -и )
- masc. nouns ending in -й -я AND BOTH masc. and fem. nouns ending in -ь go to -и
nominative plural endings (neuter)
- ending in -o take pl. ending -a
- ending in -e take pl. ending -я
- ending in -мя take pl. ending-ена
nominative plural for fem. nouns -ии and neuter nouns -иe
- they both go to -ия
nominative pl. nouns ending in -анин
ending -анин goes to -анe
genitive plural of masculine nouns
- ending in a consonant they take the pl. ending -ов (when affected by one of the rules becomes -eв
- nouns ending in -ж -ч -ш -щ -ь take plural ending -ей
- nouns ending in -й take -eв and -ёв (if ending is unstressed)
genitive plural of feminine nouns
- nouns ending in-a remove -a
- nouns ending in -я replace it w/ -ь (sometimes a vowel is inserted between last 2 consonants о, е, ё)
- nouns ending -ня usually get rid of their soft sign
- nouns ending in -ь and -eя take ending -ей
- nouns ending in -ия take ending -ий
genitive plural of neuter nouns
- ending in -o removes the -o (sometimes a vowel is inserted between last 2 consonants)
- ending in -e take ending -ей
- ending in -ие take ending -ий
- ending -мя take ending -ён
usual gender of abstract nouns
– they tend to be feminine
how to say pairs of people in russian e.g. you and I
- use the instrumental case with last noun and use c (with)
- put last noun in plural
Plurals ending in -ья (nominative plurals)
- certain nouns take the ending -ья
Брат — братья
Дерево — деревья
Стул — стулья
Лист — листья
Genitive plural of adjectives
- for all 3 genders it’s: -ых (changes because of spelling rule)
- for soft adjectives: их
- adjectives used w/ plural animate accusative nouns have same endings
Forming imperatives
- remove last 2 letters from 3rd person pl. (они) of present tense
- add -й if stem ends in a vowel -и if ends in a consonant
- for plural add -те
Forming imperatives of reflexive and single consonant verbs
- verbs ending w/ single consonant have imperative ending -ь (only applies to verbs w/ stress on the stem throughout their conjugation)
- reflexive ending is -ся after -й or -ь
- reflexive ending is -сь after -и оr -те
Irregular imperatives
Есть — ешь, ешьте
Давать — давай, давайте
Вставать — вставай, вставайте
Пить — пей, пейте
Поехать —поезжай, поезжайте
Fleeting vowels (in plural)
- only applies to masculine w/ vowels usually ё, е, о
- отец— отцы
how to form Imperatives w/ the perfective + when to use it
- formed same way as imperfective but starts from the 3rd person pl. of the perfective future
- used to order the completion of a single action
Genitive with numerals
- numerals five (пять) and above, excluding numbers ending in 1,2,3,4 are followed by genitive plural of nouns/ adjectives
- numerals ending in 1,2,3,4 are followed by genitive singular (but their adjectives go into genitive plural w/ masc. and neuter nouns — looks like nominative pl. for feminine)
Dative plurals for nouns
masc. nouns ending in consonant; fem. nouns ending in -a; neuter nouns ending in -o take ending -ам
- nouns ending in a soft sign or neuter nouns ending in -e have ending -ям
instrumental plural of nouns
- masc. nouns ending in a consonant, fem. nouns ending in -a and neuter nouns ending in -o take -ами ending
- masc. and fem. nouns ending in a soft sign and neuter nouns ending in -e take -ями ending (endings can be affected by spelling rule)
prepositional plural of nouns
- masc. nouns ending in a consonant, fem. nouns ending in -a and neuter nouns ending in -o take -ax ending
- masc. and fem. nouns ending in a soft sound and neuter nouns ending in -e take -яx
- endings can change because of spelling rule
- neuter nouns ending in -мя take -енах ending
how to form superlative of adjectives
- put the word самый in front of adjective (can only only be used w/ the long adj. )
- it declines like a hard adjective (will agree w/ adjective it precedes, in number, gender and case
alternative superlative endings (instead of самый )
- alt ending in -ейший (-ый), (-ий), (-ой)
- adjectives work like хороший
- often used to give added meaning to the adj.
- after ш, щ, ж, ч ending becomes -айший
superlatives of adverbs
- expressed using comparative and following it with всего ‘than everything’ and всех ‘than everyone’
negatives in russian
- uses double negations
negatives used w/ a preposition
-> prepositions come between ни- and the rest of the word (it splits the negative)
no one - никто
not any/ no - никакой
nothing - ничто
declining никто (no-one)
nom. - никто
acc. - никого
gen. - никого
dat. - никому
instr. - никем
prep. - ником
declining ничего (nothing)
nom. -ничего
acc. - ничего
gen. - ничего
dat. - ничему
instru. - ничем
prep. - ничём
what is special about никакой
- никакой (-ая) (-ое ) (- ие ) behaves like an adjective
- used to identify the superlative
what is special about ничто
- should be used w/ adjectives and transitive verbs (not usually done in spoken russian)
- MUST use ничто when using prep. that split the negative and the acc. case
translating: ‘nowhere,’ ‘no one’ ‘nothing’ ‘neither…nor’ ‘never’ ‘not any/no’
nowhere – нигде/ никуда
no one – никто
nothing – ничто
neither…nor – ни…ни
never – никогда
not any /no – никакой
declination of myself/ yourself
acc./ gen. – себя
dative – себе
instrumental – собой
prepositional – себе
Себя (-self) in different cases
acc. – Себя
gen. – Себя
dative – Себe
instru. – Себой
prep. – Себe
prefixes on verbs of motion
B- : going into +B
вы- : going out +из
до-: going as far as +до
за-: calling in at a place +B
за-: calling on a person +k
за-: going to fetch +за
о/ об-: going around
от-: going away from +от
пере-: going across + (через)
под-: approaching, going up to + k
при-: arriving +B
про-: going past +мимо
c-: going down +c
y-: going away +от
comparatives and superlatives of big and small
big: больший, самый большой
small: меньше, самый маленький
comparatives and superlatives of bad and good
bad (плохой): худший, самый худший
good (хороший): лучше, самый лучший
comparatives and superlative of high/ tall and short
high/ tall (высокий): более высокий /высший , самый высокий /высший
short (низкий ): более низкий/ низший, самый низкий/ низший
comparatives and superlatives of young and old
young (молодой): более молодой /младший, самый молодой /младший
old (старый): более старый /старший, самый старый /старший
irregular short form comparative adjectives
nearer: ближе
higher: выше
cheaper: дешевле
easier: легче
lower: ниже
simpler: проще
rarer: реже
more frequent: чаще
better: лучше
brighter: ярче
bigger: больше
further: дальше
dearer: дороже
younger: моложе/ младше
worse: хуже
earlier: earlier
older (of people): старше
older (of things) : старее
wider: шире
translating than in a comparative
- use чем or putting object of comparison in the genitive
declension of
