Russian Intonation, Present-Tense Verb Endings Flashcards
What is the only difference between narrative and interrogative sentences in written Russian?
Interrogative sentence ends with a question mark, and narrative sentence does not!
That’s why in speech intonation is very important.
There is no change in word order:
Анна туристка. - Anna is a tourist.
Анна туристка? - Is Anna a tourist?
In spoken statements, the voice usually falls on the last stressed syllable of the last word: - Анна туристка.
In spoken question, the voice is raised on the last stressed syllable of the last word: - Анна туристка?
If the question begins with a question word, the voice is raised on that word: - Где Ваш багаж?
What does ЭТО mean?
“this” or “that” or “it”
Что это?
chto eto - What is this/that?
Это письмо.
eto pis’mo - This/that/it is a letter.
Кто это?
kto eto - Who is this/that?
Это мой друг.
eto moy droor - This/that is my friend.
What do the infinitive of Russian verbs end with?
-ть
What do type 1 verbs usually end with?
-ать
The Russian word for ‘‘to know’’ is ‘‘знать’’.
To make the equivalents of the present tense ‘‘I know’’, ‘‘he knows’’, ‘‘I am working’’, etc. you need the right pronoun, e.g. я, он, вы, etc., and then you take the -ть off the infinitive and add the required personal ending.
Note! Зна- is called the stem. The endings are -ю, -ешь, -ет, -ем, -ете, -ют.
я знаю
ya znayu - I know
ты знаешь
ty znayesh’ - you know (singlar)
он, она, оно знает
on/ona/ono znayet - he/she/it knows
мы знаем
my znayetye - we know
вы знаете
vy znayetye - you know (plural)
они знают
oni znayut - they know
What do type 2 verbs usually end with?
-ить
A good example is ‘‘говорить’’ ‘‘to speak’’. Говор- is the stem. -ить is the ending. The endings are -ю, -ишь, -ит, -им, -ите, -ят.
