RUS:101 - RUSSIAN
Getting acquainted – Consonants, Pronunciation and Intonation – Grammar and
usage: the absence of “to be” in the present tense, articles, personal pronouns, simple
negation, asking and answering questions - At the airport – Vowels – Grammar and
usage : formal vs informal speech, the “umbrella” spelling rule, the gender of nouns,
nouns plural, “to have”
PERSONAL PRONOUNS
The personal pronouns in Russian are:
I
You (familiar)
SINGULAR
я
ты
PLURAL
мы
вы
he
she
it
он
она
оно
они
we
You (plural, polite
singular)
they
Note that (I) is not capitalized unless it begins a sentence. The pronouns он (he) and
она (she) mean mean “it” when they refer to a thing.
Она программист.
She is a programmer.
Они здесь
They are here.
SIMPLE NEGATION
The Russian equivalent of “not” is не. It immediately precedes the part of the
sentence it is negating.
Это Катя
This is Katya.
Это не Катя
This is not Katya.
Максим бизнесмен
Maksim is a businessman.
Максим не бизнесмен
Maksim is not a businessman.
Они из Чикаго
They are from Chicago.
Они не из Чикаго
They are not from Chicago.
1
ASKING AND ANSWERING QUESTIONS
English yes/no questions and Russian да/нет questions are similar. Answers with да
often omit the subject and consist only of the word that was questioned, while
answers with нет generally repeat the subject.
Is Eleanor a tourist? – Yes, she is./ No, she’s a programmer.
Is this Katya? – Yes, it is./ No, it’s Anya.
Two useful question words in Russian are кто (who), and что(what). You can respond
to both using это (this/that is). Use the intonation pattern when asking questions
beginning with кто or что.
Кто это? - Это Элеонора Джонсон.
Who is this? – This is Eleanor Johnson.
Кто это? - Это я.
Who is it? – It’s me.
FORMAL VERSUS INFORMAL SPEECH
Once you’ve determined whether you should address someone as вы or ты, you must
use the appropriate formal or informal forms for greeting, parting, or asking
questions.
Hello! Hi!
What is your name?
How are you?
How are things?
Where do you live?
Do you have…?
Nice to meet you.
Goodbye! See you!
PLURAL OR FORMAL
(WITH)
Здравствуйте!
Как вас зовут?
Как вы поживаете?
Как ваши дела?
Где вы живёте?
У вас есть…?
Очень приятно
(познакомиться с вами)
До свидания!
INFORMAL
(WITH)
Здравствуй! Привет!
Как тебя зовут?
Как ты?
Как дела?
Где ты живёшь?
У тебя есть…?
Очень приятно.
Пока! Счастливо!
THE “UMBRELLA” SPELLING RULE
This three-part rule will be invaluable to you when learning the grammatical endings
of Russian words.
RULE 1. The vowels ы, ю, and я change to и, у, and а, respectively, after ж, к, г, х,
ч, ш, or щ.
жить
русский
хата
чудо
ищу
книга
Маша
2
to live
Russian
hut
miracle
(I) look
for
book
Masha
RULE 2. ю and я change to у and а respectively after ц.
отца
father’s
отцу
To the father
отцы
fathers
цирк
circus
RULE 3. Unstressed о changes to е after ж, ц, ч, ш, or щ.
с мужем
яйцо
с ключом
большое
пишущее
with the husband egg
With a key
big
writing
This rule is especially useful to remember when forming noun plurals or adding
endings of any kind.
THE GENDER OF NOUNS
Every noun in Russian has grammatical gender, regardless of whether it refers to a
person, animal, object, or abstract concept. Russian nouns can be feminine,
masculine, or neuter. Feminine nouns usually end in –а or -я.
выставка
exhibit
декларация
declaration
книга
book
ручка
pen
Таможня
customs
Masculine nouns usually end in a consonant. This is commonly referred to as having a
zero-ending.
Факс модем
fax-modem
принтер
printer
бизнесмен
businessman
турист
tourist
урок
lesson
Some common words denoting a male person do not follow the usual pattern, in that
they have feminine endings yet are still considered masculine nouns.
мужчина
man
дядя
uncle
дедушка
grandfather
Миша
Misha
Nouns ending in –ь can be either masculine or feminine and must be learned on a
case-by-case basis. Nouns ending in a husher sound (ж, ш, щ, у) and –ь can be only
feminine.
Masculine:
день
day
портфель
briefcase
Feminine:
вещь
thing
тетрадь
notebook
Neuter nouns usually end in –о or –е. However, most foreign nouns are considered
neuter, so this group also includes some cognates that end in –и or another vowel.
утро
радио
упражнение
такси
произношение
3
morning
radio
exercise
taxi
pronunciation
Note that some grammatically masculine nouns can refer to people of either gender,
especially with traditionally male professions.
доктор
doctor
профессор
professor
программист
programmer
строитель
construction
worker
учёный
scientist
4