Basics of Russian
In Cyrillic, there are 33 letters: 10 vowels (а, э, ы, у, о, я, е, ё, ю, и), 20 consonants (б, в, г, д, ж, з, к, л, м, н, п, р, с, т, ф, х, ц, ч, ш, щ), й or a semi-consonant, and 2 pronunciation signs (ь and ъ). |
Vowels
Group I
A
Э
Ы
О
У |
Group II
Я
Е
И
Ё/Е
Ю |
Consonants
unpaired
velars: к г х
hushers: ж ш ч щ
tse: ц |
paired
the rest |
Gender
What is gender? |
There are gender types for nouns: masculine, feminine, or neuter. |
Masculine |
usually end in consonant (unpaired, hard paired consonants) or -й
some end in ь (soft paired consonants) |
Feminine |
usually end in -a or –я (if the noun refers to male, it is not female)
some end in ь (soft paired consonants) |
Neuter |
usually end in -о, -е or -ё |
Declension
What is declension? |
There are declension types for nouns: first, second, third. |
1st declension |
masculine nouns that end in ь
(soft paired consonant)
nouns that end in consonant (unpaired, hard paired consonants)
nouns that end in -о, -е or -ё |
2nd declension |
nouns that end in -a or –я |
3rd declension |
feminine nouns that end in ь
(soft paired consonant) |
Basic Rules
if the word ends in й |
remove it and replace it with group II version of ending |
if the word ends in ь |
remove it and replace it with group II version of ending |
consonant |
hard paired or unpaired: add |
vowel |
remove it and replace with corresponding |
Spelling Rules
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regards unpaired consonants |
1) |
after unpaired consonant, instead of ю and я, use the letters у and а |
2) |
always use e over Э |
3) |
always use И over Ы |
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never Ё |
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O: after к г х |
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O: after hushers and tse if ending is stressed |
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е: after hushers and tse if ending is not stressed, stem is stressed |
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addition |
Possessive Adjectives
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1st |
2nd |
3rd |
masculine |
мой наш |
твой ваш |
его |
feminine |
моя наша |
твоя ваша |
её |
neuter |
моё наше |
твоё ваше |
| |
|
|
их |
With nouns in the genitive case
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1) Nominative Case
Role |
1) designates the subject of the sentence
2) predicative nominative 3) apposition |
1st |
∅ for masculine, -о/-е/-ё for neuter |
2nd |
а/я |
3rd |
∅ |
2) Genitive Case
What is the genitive case? |
shows possession in a sentence |
1st |
а/я |
2nd |
ы/и |
3rd |
и |
3) Accusative Case
What is the accusative case? |
represents direct object |
1st |
There are some cases:
inanimate = nominative
animate = genitive |
2nd |
-у/ю |
3rd |
∅ |
4) Dative Case
What is the dative case? |
represents indirect object |
1st |
-у/ю |
2nd |
-е
-и (for –ия) |
3rd |
-и |
5) Prepositional/Locative Case
What is the prepositional/
locative case? |
always includes a preposition, shows location |
Key of prepositions |
some prepositions:
О (about)
В (in, at)
НА (on, at) |
1st |
-е
-и (for –ие, -ий) |
2nd |
-е
-и (for –ия) |
3rd |
-и |
6) Instrumental Case
What is the instrumental case? |
indicates the "instrument"
includes the preposition C occasionally |
1st |
-ом/-ем/-ём |
2nd |
-ой/-eй/-ёй |
3rd |
-ью |
Verb Conjugation
How many tenses are there in Russian? |
There are three tenses:
(1) past
(2) present
(3) future |
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non-past vs past: present and future have same conjugations |
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present |
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Singular |
Plural |
1st |
я |
мы |
2nd |
ты |
вы |
3rd |
он/она/оно |
они |
он/она/оно |
The differences are as follows:
он: masculine
она: feminine
оно: neuter |
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ты is used only for friendly |
1st conjugation |
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Singular |
Plural |
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у/ю |
ем |
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ешь |
ете |
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ет |
ут/ют |
2nd conjugation |
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Singular |
Plural |
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у/ю |
им |
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ишь |
ите |
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ит |
ат/ят |
When 1st conjugation verbs are stressed on their endings, instead of –e they are conjugated with –ё |
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