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Russian grammar
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Singular | Plural | ||||||||
Nominative | - | -ь | -й | -ий | -ы1 | -и | -и | -ии | |
Genitive | -а | -я | -я | -ия | -ов2 | -ей | -ев3 | -иев | |
Dative | -у | -ю | -ю | -ию | -ам | -ям | -ям | -иям | |
Accusative | N or G | N or G | |||||||
Instrumental | -ом | -ем3 | -ем3 | -ием | -ами | -ями | -ями | -иями | |
Prepositional | -е | -е | -е | -ии | -ах | -ях | -ях | -иях |
Notes:
Singular | Plural | ||||
Nominative | -о1 | -е2 | -а | -я | |
Genitive | -а | -я | - | -й / -ь4 | |
Dative | -у | -ю | -ам | -ям | |
Accusative | -о1 | -е2 | N or G | ||
Instrumental | -ом1 | -ем2 | -ами | -ями | |
Prepositional | -е | -е3 | -ах | -ях |
Singular | Plural | ||||||
Nominative | -а | -я | -ия | -ы1 | -и | -ии | |
Genitive | -ы1 | -и | -ии | - | -ь | -ий | |
Dative | -е | -е | -ии | -ам | -ям | -иям | |
Accusative | -у | -ю | -ию | N or G | |||
Instrumental | -ой2 | -ей3 | -ией | -ами | -ями | -иями | |
Prepositional | -е | -е | -ии | -ах | -ях | -иях |
Singular | Plural | ||||
Feminine | Neuter | Feminine | Neuter | ||
Nominative | -ь | -мя | -и | -мена | |
Genitive | -и | -мени | -ей | -мён(-мян) | |
Dative | -и | -мени | -ям1 | -менам | |
Accusative | -ь | -мя | N or G | -мена | |
Instrumental | -ью | -менем | -ями1 (ьми) | -менами | |
Prepositional | -и | -мени | -ях1 | -менах |
Russian adjectives agree with the nouns they modify in gender, number, and case.
Singular | Plural | ||||
Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |||
Nominative | -ый | -ая | -ое | -ые | |
Genitive | -ого | -ой | -ого | -ых | |
Dative | -ому | -ой | -ому | -ым | |
Accusative | N or G | -ую | -ое | N or G | |
Instrumental | -ым | -ой | -ым | -ыми | |
Prepositional | -ом | -ой | -ом | -ых |
Russian differentiates between hard-stem (as above) and soft-stem adjectives. Note the following:
Personal pronoun
Singular | Plural | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st | 2nd | 3rd | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | |||
Masc. | Fem. | Neut. | ||||||
(English) | I | you (singular) | he | she | it | we | you (plural) | they |
Nominative | я | ты | он | она́ | оно́ | мы | вы | они́ |
Genitive | меня́ | тебя́ | его́ | её | его́ | нас | вас | (н)их |
Dative | мне | тебе́ | ему́ | ей | ему́ | нам | вам | (н)им |
Accusative | меня́ | тебя́ | его́ | её | его́ | нас | вас | (н)их |
Instrumental | мной/мно́ю | тобо́й/тобо́ю | ним | нею | ним | на́ми | ва́ми | (н)и́ми |
Prepositional | обо мне | о тебе́ | о нём | о ней | о нём | о наc | о вас | о них |
Demonstrative pronoun
этот "this" and тот "that"
masculine | neuter | feminine | plural | masculine | neuter | feminine | plural | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nominative | э́тот | э́то | э́та | э́ти | тот | то | та | те | |
Genitive | э́того | э́того | э́той | э́тих | того́ | того́ | той | тех | |
Dative | э́тому | э́тому | э́той | э́тим | тому́ | тому́ | той | тем | |
Accusative | N or G | э́то | э́ту | N or G | N or G | то | ту | N or G | |
Instrumental | э́тим | э́тим | э́той | э́тими | тем | тем | той | те́ми | |
Prepositional | об э́том | об э́том | об э́той | об э́тих | о том | о том | о той | о тех |
Possessive pronoun
мой ('my') and твой ('your' sing.)
masculine | neuter | feminine | plural | masculine | neuter | feminine | plural | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nominative | мой | моё | моя | мои | твой | твоё | твоя | твои | |
Genitive | моего | моего | моей | моих | твоего | твоего | твоей | твоих | |
Dative | моему | моему | моей | моим | твоему | твоему | твоей | твоим | |
Accusative | N or G | моё | мою | N or G | N or G | твоё | твою | N or G | |
Instrumental | моим | моим | моей | моими | твоим | твоим | твоей | твоими | |
Prepositional | о моём | о моём | о моей | о моих | о твоём | о твоём | о твоей | о твоих |
наш ('our') and ваш ('your' plur.)
masculine | neuter | feminine | plural | masculine | neuter | feminine | plural | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nominative | наш | наше | наша | наши | ваш | ваше | ваша | ваши | |
Genitive | нашего | нашего | нашей | наших | вашего | вашего | вашей | ваших | |
Dative | нашему | нашему | нашей | нашим | вашему | вашему | вашей | вашим | |
Accusative | N or G | наше | нашу | N or G | N or G | ваше | вашу | N or G | |
Instrumental | нашим | нашим | нашей | нашими | вашим | вашим | вашей | вашими | |
Prepositional | о нашем | о нашем | о нашей | о наших | о вашем | о вашем | о вашей | о ваших |
Interrogative pronoun
кто ('who') and что ('what')
кто | что | |
---|---|---|
Nominative | кто | что |
Genitive | кого (read: каво) | чего (read: чиво) |
Dative | кому | чему |
Accusative | кого (read: каво) | что (read: што) |
Instrumental | кем | чем |
Prepositional | о ком | о чём |
чей ('whose')
masculine | neuter | feminine | plural | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Nominative | чей | чьё | чья | чьи |
Genitive | чьего | чьего | чьей | чьих |
Dative | чьему | чьему | чьей | чьим |
Accusative | N or G | чьё | чью | N or G |
Instrumental | чьим | чьим | чьей | чьими |
Prepositional | о чьём | о чьём | о чьей | о чьих |
Cardinal Numbers
Ordinal Numbers Nominative case, masculine.
Grammatical conjugation is subject to three persons in two numbers and two simple tenses (present/future and past), with periphrastic forms for the future and subjunctive, as well as imperative forms and present/past participles, distinguished by adjectival and adverbial usage (seeadjectival participle and adverbial participle). There are two voices, active and passive, which is constructed by the addition of a reflexive suffix-ся/сь/- to the active form. An interesting feature is that the past tense is actually made to agree in gender with the subject, for it is theparticiple in an originally periphrastic perfect formed with the present of быть [bɨtʲ] (like the perfect passive tense in Latin), "to be", which is now omitted except for rare archaic effect, usually in set phrases (откуда есть пошла земля русская [ɐˈtkudə jesʲtʲ pɐˈʂla zʲɪˈmlʲa ˈruskəjə], "whence is come the Russian land", the opening of the Primary Chronicle in modern spelling). Verbal inflection today is considerably simpler than in Old Russian. The ancient aorist, imperfect, and (periphrastic) pluperfect have been lost, though the aorist sporadically occurs in secular literature as late as the second half of the eighteenth century, and survives as an odd form in direct narration (а он пойди да скажи [ɐ on pɐjˈdʲi də skɐˈʐɨ], etc., exactly equivalent to the English colloquial "so he goes and says"), recategorized as a usage of the imperative. The loss of three of the former six tenses has been offset by the development, as in other Slavic languages, of verbal aspect. Most verbs come in pairs, one with imperfective or continuous connotation, the other with perfective or completed, usually formed with a (prepositional) prefix, but occasionally using a different root. E.g., спать [spatʲ] ('to sleep') is imperfective; поспать [pɐˈspatʲ] ('to take a nap') is perfective.
The present tense of the verb быть is today normally used only in the third-person singular form, which is often used for all the persons and numbers. As late as the nineteenth century, the full conjugation, which today is never used, was somewhat more natural: forms occur in the SynodalBible, in Dostoevsky and in the bylinas (былины [bɨˈlʲinɨ]) or oral folk-epics, which were transcribed at that time. The paradigm shows as well as anything else the Indo-European affinity of Russian:
English | Russian | IPA | Latin | Classical Greek | Sanskrit |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
"I am" | (есмь) | [jesʲmʲ] | sum | eimi | ásmi |
"you are" (sing.) | (еси) | [ˈjesʲɪ] | es | ei | ási |
"he, she, it is" | есть | [jesʲtʲ] | est | esti(n) | ásti |
"we are" | (есмы) | [ˈjɛsmɨ] | sumus | esmen | smaḥ |
"you are" (plur.) | (есте) | [jesʲtʲe] | estis | este | staḥ |
"they are" | (суть) | [sutʲ] | sunt | eisi(n) | sánti |
There are two forms used to conjugate the present tense of imperfective verbs and the future tense of perfective verbs.
The first conjugation (I) is used in verb stems ending in a consonant, -у, or -о, or in -а when not preceded by a sibilant:
The second conjugation (II) is used in verb stems ending in -и or -е, or in -а when preceded by a sibilant:
The Russian past tense is gender specific: –л for masculine singular subjects, –ла for feminine singular subjects, –ло for neuter singular subjects, and –ли for plural subjects. This gender specificity applies to all persons; thus, to say "I slept", a male speaker would say я спал, while a female speaker would say я спалá.
вернуть ('to return [something]', stem: верн–)
я верну | I will return |
ты вернёшь | you will return |
он, она, оно вернёт | he, she, it will return |
мы вернём | we will return |
вы вернёте | you will return |
они вернут | they will return |
читать ('to read', stem: чита–)
я читаю | I read (am reading, do read) |
ты читаешь | you read (are reading, do read) |
он, она, оно читает | he, she, it reads (is reading, does read) |
мы читаем | we read (are reading, do read) |
вы читаете | you (plural/formal) read (are reading, do read) |
они читают | they read (are reading, do read) |
говорить ('to speak', stem: говор–)
я говорю | I speak (am speaking, do speak) |
ты говоришь | you speak (are speaking, do speak) |
он, она, оно говорит | he, she, it speaks (is speaking, does speak) |
мы говорим | we speak (are speaking, do speak) |
вы говорите | you (plural/formal) speak (are speaking, do speak) |
они говорят | they speak (are speaking, do speak) |
брать1- take | вести1- lead | ви́деть2- see | давать1- give | дать3 - give (pf.) | есть3- eat | жить1 - live | звать1- call | идти́ 1- go | писать2- write | ходи́ть2- walk | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st Sg. | беру́ | веду́ | ви́жу | даю́ | дам | ем | живу́ | зову́ | иду́ | пишу́ | хожу́ |
2nd Sg. | берёшь | ведёшь | ви́дишь | даёшь | дашь | ешь | живёшь | зовёшь | идёшь | пи́шешь | хо́дишь |
3rd Sg. | берёт | ведёт | ви́дит | даёт | даст | ест | живёт | зовёт | идёт | пи́шет | хо́дит |
1st Pl. | берём | ведём | ви́дим | даём | дади́м | еди́м | живём | зовём | идём | пи́шем | хо́дим |
2nd Pl. | берёте | ведёте | ви́дите | даёте | дади́те | еди́те | живёте | зовёте | идёте | пи́шете | хо́дите |
3rd Pl. | беру́т | веду́т | ви́дят | даю́т | даду́т | едя́т | живу́т | зову́т | иду́т | пи́шут | хо́дят |
1These verbs all have a stem change.
2These verbs are palatalised in certain cases, namely с → ш for all the present forms of "писать", and д → ж in the first person singular of the other verbs.
3These verbs do not conform to either the first or second conjugations.
Russian has on hand a set of prefixes, prepositional and adverbial in nature, as well as diminutive, augmentative, and frequentative suffixesand infixes. All of these can be stacked one upon the other, to produce multiple derivatives of a given word. Participles and other inflectional forms may also have a special connotation. For example:
мысль | [mɨsʲlʲ] | "thought" |
мыслишка | [mɨˈsʲlʲiʂkə] | "a petty, cute or a silly thought" |
мыслища | [mɨˈsʲlʲiɕːə] | "a thought of fundamental import" |
мышление | [mɨʂlʲenije] | "thought; abstract thinking, ratiocination" |
мыслить | [mɨsʲlitˈ] | "to think (as to cogitate)" |
смысл | [smɨsl] | "meaning" |
осмыслить | [osmɨsʲlitʲ] | "to comprehend; to rationalize" |
осмысливать | [osmɨsʲlivətʲ] | "to be in the process of comprehending" |
переосмыслить | [pʲɪrʲɪɐˈsmɨsʲlʲɪtʲ] | "to reassess" |
переосмысливать | [pʲɪrʲɪɐˈsmɨsʲlʲɪvətʲ] | "to be in the process of reassessing (something)" |
переосмысливаемый | [pʲɪrʲɪɐˈsmɨsʲlʲɪvəjɪmɨj] | "(something) in the process of being considered in a new light" |
бессмыслица | [bʲɪˈsmɨsʲlʲɪtsə] | "nonsense" |
обессмыслить | [əbʲɪˈsmɨsʲlʲɪtʲ] | "to render meaningless" |
бессмысленный | [bʲɪˈsmɨsʲlʲɪnːɨj] | "meaningless" |
обессмысленный | [əbʲɪˈsmɨsʲlʲɪnːɨj] | "rendered meaningless" |
необессмысленный | [nʲɪəbʲɪˈsmɨsʲlʲɪnːɨj] | "not rendered meaningless" |
Russian has also proved friendly to agglutinative compounds. As an extreme case:
металлоломообеспечение | [mʲɪtəlɐˌlomɐɐbʲɪˈsʲpʲetɕɪnʲjɪ] | "provision of scrap iron" |
металлоломообеспеченный | [mʲɪtəlɐˌlomɐɐbʲɪˈsʲpʲetɕɪnːɨj] | "well supplied with scrap iron" |
Purists (as Dmitry Ushakov in the preface to his dictionary) frown on such words. But here is the name of a street in St. Petersburg:
Каменноостровский проспект | [ˌkamʲɪnːɐˈɐstrəvskʲɪj prɐˈsʲpʲɛkt] | "Stone Island Avenue" |
Some linguists have suggested that Russian agglutination stems from Church Slavonic. In the twentieth century, abbreviated components appeared in the compound:
управдом | [uprɐˈvdom] = управляющий домом | [uprɐˈvlʲajuɕːɪj ˈdoməm] | "residence manager" |
The basic word order, both in conversation and the written language, is Subject Verb Object in transitive clauses, and free word order in intransitive clauses. However, because the relations are marked by inflection, considerable latitude in word order is allowed even in transitive clauses, and all the permutations can be used. For example, the words in the phrase "я пошёл в магазин" ('I went to the shop') can be arranged
while maintaining grammatical correctness. Note, however, that the order of the phrase "в магазин" is kept constant.
The word order expresses the logical stress, and the degree of definiteness. Primary emphasis tends to be initial, with a slightly weaker emphasis at the end.
Like most other languages but unlike English, multiple negatives are compulsory in Russian, as in никто никогда никому ничего не прощает [nʲɪkˈto nʲɪkɐɡˈda nʲɪkɐˈmu nʲɪtɕɪˈvo nʲɪ prɐɕˈɕæjɪt] ('No-one ever forgives anyone for anything' literally, "no one never to no-one nothing does not forgive").
The most common types of coordination expressed by compound sentences in Russian are conjoining, oppositional, and separative. Additionally, the Russian grammar considers comparative, complemental, and clarifying. Other flavors of the meanings may also be distinguished.
Conjoining coordinations are formed with the help of the conjunctions "и", "да", "ни...ни" (simultaneous negation), также, тоже (the latter two have complementary flavors). Most commonly the conjoining coordination expresses enumeration, simultaneity or immediate sequence. They may also have a cause-effect flavor.
Oppositional coordinations are formed with the help of the oppositional conjunctions а, но, да, однако, зато, же, etc. They express the semantic relations of opposition, comparison, incompatibility, restriction, or compensation.
Separative coordinations are formed with the help of the separative conjunctions или, либо, ли...ли, то...то, etc., and are used to express alternation or incompatibility of things expressed in the coordinated sentences.
Complemental and clarifying coordination expresses additional, but not subordinated, information related to the first sentence.
Comparative coordination is a semantical flavor of the oppositional one.
Common coordinating conjunctions include:
The distinction between и and а is important. И implies a following complemental state that does not oppose the antecedent. А implies a following state that acts in opposition to the antecedent, but more weakly than но "but".
они уехали, и мы уезжаем | [ɐˈnʲi uˈjɛxəlʲɪ] [ɪ ˈmɨ ujɪˈʑʑajɪm] | they have departed and we are departing |
они уехали, а мы уезжаем | [ɐˈnʲi uˈjɛxəlʲɪ] [ɐ ˈmɨ ujɪˈʑʑajɪm] | they have departed, while (but) we are (still) departing |
они уехали, но мы приезжаем | [ɐˈnʲi uˈjɛxəlʲɪ] [nɐ ˈmɨ prʲɪjɪˈʑʑajɪm] | they have departed, but we are arriving |
The distinction between и and а developed after the medieval period; originally, и and а were closer in meaning. The unpunctuated ending of the Song of Igor illustrates the potential confusion. The final five words in modern spelling, князьям слава а дружине аминь [knʲɪˈzʲjam ˈslavə ə druˈʐɨnʲɪ ɐˈmʲinʲ] can be understood either as "Glory to the princes and to their host! Amen." or "Glory to the princes, and amen (R.I.P.) to their troops". Although the majority opinion is definitely with the first interpretation, there is no full consensus. The psychological difference between the two is quite obvious.
Complementizers (subordinating conjunctions, adverbs, or adverbial phrases) include:
In general, there are fewer subordinate clauses than in English, because the participles and adverbial participles often take the place of a relative pronoun/verb combination. For example:
Вот человек, потерявший надежду. | [vot tɕɪlɐˈvʲɛk] [pətʲɪˈrʲavʂɨj nɐˈdʲɛʐdu] | Here (is) a man who has lost (all) hope. [lit. having lost hope] |
Гуляя по городу, всегда останавливаюсь у Ростральных колонн. | [ɡuˈlʲajɪ pɐ ˈɡorədu vsʲɪɡˈda] [əstɐˈnavlʲɪvəjusʲ u rɐˈstralʲnɨx kɐˈlon] | When I go for a walk in the city, I always pause by the Rostral Columns. [lit. Walking in the city, I...] |
Despite the inflectional nature of Russian, there is no equivalent in the modern language to the English nominative absolute or the Latin ablative absolute construction. The old language had an absolute construction, with the noun put into the dative. Like so many other archaisms, it is retained in Church Slavonic. Among the last known examples in literary Russian occurs in Radishchev's Journey from Petersburg to Moscow (Путешествие из Петербурга в Москву [putʲɪˈʂɛstvʲɪjɪ ɪs pʲɪtʲɪrˈburɡə v mɐˈskvu]), 1790:
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