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Russian Grammar For The English-Speaking Beginner by Dick Talleur Copyright © 2003
This little book is not a text book (учљбник,
pronounced oo-cheb-neek) in the true
sense, because it does not seek to go into that much depth. It is an
orientation. It is intended to acquaint the beginning student with how the
Russian language is structured, and how it works, as compared to English. It is
also intended to acquaint the student with certain grammatical terms with which
he or she may not be familiar.
The eventual objective in learning Russian is for the grammar to be
virtually automatic, so that the individual can concentrate on developing
vocabulary and pronunciation. Essentially, this means thinking in Russian.
However, in the process of transition, it is helpful to make “bridges” that
assist in chosing the correct forms for given expressions. This simplified guide
is intended to accomplish just that.
It should be understood that the phonetic simulations of sounds, or
pronunciations utilized herein, are, by their nature, not always totally
accurate, or directly translatable. They are merely intended to provide a frame
of reference; to get the beginner into the ball park, so to speak. These
crutches are not intended for permanent use, and should be discarded as soon as
the student learns the Russian way of saying a letter or word. Classisists might
criticize this approach; however, I’ve found it to be a virtual life-saver for
the beginner.
In any language, pronunciation and stressing the proper syllable is very
important, and in Russian, that’s even more true. Thus, a stress mark will be
placed over the vowel in the syllable that gets stressed. You won’t see this
in Russian writing, except perhaps in elementary school books. Here is how it
looks: ђ, љ, ќ, ћ, џ, є, ї.
In addition, there are two other vowels. The vowel, “ё” can be a
problem for the beginning student, because in Russian publications, they usually
leave off the dots and simply print it as “е”. Very confusing. The other
strange vowel is “й”, which is called “e kratky”. It is used in Russian
spelling to finish a word that ends with a final “y” sound. In English, such
words would be toy, boy, joy, and so forth.
The Russian Alphabet
The first order of business for the beginning student is to learn the
alphabet, so as to be able to read and write, and to say and understand the
sounds. The Russian alphabet is called the ђзбука (ahz-boo-ka), which is not surprising, because each letter is called a бџква.
It is commonly known as the Cyrilic alphabet, as its development is mainly
credited to a man named Kiril, who spent his entire life researching languages
in the middle east, Greece, and Rome. Thus, Russian has as its roots remnants of
Greek, Latin, and even Sanscrit.
Later, as contact with the nations of Europe increased and new words were
needed, many French and German words were incorporated into Russian. For
example, a sandwich is a бутербрћд(boo-ter-brod),
the same as in German. A shrimp is a кревyљтка (kree-vyet-ka),
the same as in French. Even later, many English words were adopted, such as
telephone: телефћн, fax: факс, and computer: компєтер. Verb
forms also resulted; планќровать (plan-eer-o-vat):
to plan, органќзовывать: (or-gan-eez-o-vee-vat)
to organize. Some of the forms that combine the old and new are intriguing, such
as miniskirt; мќни-єбка, pronounced meenie-yoob-kah. On the street, the American dollar is often referred to as
a buck. This cannot be spelled phonetically in Russian, because they have no
short “u”, but they can say it perfectly well. The question, “Skoil-kah bucksov?”, how many
dollars, is commonly heard.
Consider that slangy example, as it is important in understanding how
Russian works. Even words that have been taken directly from another language
must be used with proper Russian grammar. Thus, in the preceding inquiry, bucks
takes the genitive plural ending; bucksov!
On that note, let’s have a look at the alphabet. It is composed of 33
characters, two of which are not actual letters, but symbols that determine
pronunciation. They are called the hard sign (ъ) and the soft sign (ь). More
about them later. The important thing at this point is to be aware that they are
considered to be part of the alphabet, and that to leave them out would be to
misspell a word, and possibly change its meaning. Example; брат, without the
soft sign, means brother. But брать with the soft sign is the verb, “to
take”. When
looking up a word in the Russian dictionary, these symbols must be taken into
account. The hard sign is character 28, and the soft sign, which is much more
frequently employed, is character 30.
Below, the name of the letter indicates how it would sound if one were
reciting the alphabet. The comparable sound in English means how it would sound
when incorporated into an actual word. Russian Letter
Script
Name
Of Letter
Comparable Sound In English
А а
А а
ah
ah
Б б
Б
б
beh
hard b
В в
В
в
veh
like v
Г г
Г
г
geh
hard g
Д д
Д
д
deh
like d
Е е
Е
е
yeh
no equiv.
Ё ё
Ё
ё
yoh
“ ”
Ж ж
Ж
ж
zheh
“ ”
З з
З
з
zeh
like z
И
и
И и
e
long e
Й й
Й
й
e krahtki
see notes
К
к
К к
keh
like k
Л л
Л
л
like l
М м
М
м
like m
Н н
Н
н
en
like n
О
о
О о
oh
like o
П п
П
п
peh
like p
Р р
Р
р
reh
like r
С с
С
с
es
like s
Т т
Т
т
teh
like t
У у
У
у
oo
as in food
Ф ф
Ф
ф
ef
like f
Х х
Х х
khah
as in Bach
Ц ц
Ц ц
tzeh
as in its
Ч
ч
Ч ч
cheh
like soft ch
Ш ш
Ш ш
sheh
as in sh
Щ щ
Щ щ
scheh
no equiv.
Ъ ъ
Ъ ъ
tvordnee znak
hard sign
Ы ы
Ы ы
ui (sort of)
no equiv.
Ь ь
Ь ь
myagkee znak
soft sign
Э э
Э э
e
as in egg
Ю ю
Ю ю
yoo
like you
Я я
Я я
yah
like yah Notes on the Cyrilic
alphabet
As indicated, there is no way to express in writing some of these sounds;
one needs to hear them, preferably pronounced by a native speaker of Russian.
The letter “й” is almost vestigal. The best that can be said is that it
equates more-or-less to the “y” on the end of “toy”, as previously
explained. The letter “х” is sort of like clearing one’s throat. I hear
it pronounced a little differently by Russians from various regions. I have
noticed that when it comes at the beginning of a word, Russians pronounce it
somewhat differently than when it comes at the end. For example, “хочџ”,
which means “I want”, starts with a mixed “kh” sound: khah-choo,
while with “верх”, which means, “up”, the letter is almost hissed
out: “vyairh”.
The letter, “ч”
is normally pronounced like the ch in “chess”. However, in certain words, it
comes out “sh”, as in “sheep”. Perhaps the best example is the word for
“what”, “что”.
It’s pronounced, “shtoh”.
The letter “щ” is virtually a two-syllable sound, as though one
combined the ending and beginning of the words, “fresh cheese”, and ran them
together. The letter “ы” has no close English equivalent. It’s a long
“e” that comes from the chest, sort of. Best to hear it from a Russian.
Some teachers of Russian language suggest the following exercise for
learning to pronounce “ы”; stretch your mouth into a wide smile without
showing your teeth. Also, try this by stretching your mouth with your thumb and
forefinger while saying “ee”.
Another thing to remember-and this is very important-is that certain
Russian letters, vowels in particular, are pronounced quite differently when the
syllable in which they occur is stressed. For example, in the word for “thank
you”, “спасІбо”, is pronounced, “spah-see-bah.
The “о” at the end is pronounced, “ah”. But with the word, “окнћ”,
which means “window”, the stressed “o” is pronounced as an “o”.
The letter, “е” is pronounced, “yeh” when stressed. When not
stressed, it is pronounced “ee”, like the Russian letter, “и”.
Examples; the verb, “есть”, which means “to eat” or “to have”,
is pronounced “yest”. The word, “верђнда”, which means
“porch”, is pronounced “vee-rahn-dah”.
This can vary a little from Russian to Russian. For example, I’ve heard the
word for garlic, “чеснћк”,
come out “chis-nohk”. The word, “сейчђс”
is pronounced, “see-chas”, as
though the “й” wasn’t there.
As stated earlier, any time you see the letter “ё”, that syllable is
always stressed. Also note that in a Russian word, only one syllable can be
stressed. However, in compound words, such as
восемнђдцатьэтажний, which means 18-story, as with an
apartment building, there may be a secondary stress, not as strong as the main
one. It is pronounced, “voh-sem-nahd-sat-et-tazh-nee”,
with “nahd” getting the primary
stress, and the other two italicized syllables getting lesser stress.
The last letter in the Russian alphabet, “я”, also gets pronounced
somewhat differently, depending on whether it’s in the stressed syllable or
not. For example, in the word, “forbidden”, “нельзї”, pronounced,
“nil-zyah”, a true “yah” is
used. But in the case of the verb, “to study or occupy ones’ self with”,
“занимђться”, pronounced, “zahnee-maht-sah”,
the “я” becomes a plain old “а”. An even more remarkable deviation is
found in the verb, “объяснќть”; “to explain”. The “я” gets
almost a “yist” sound. The word for “fifty”, “пятьлесїт”,
comes out something like “pit-dis-yat”.
This again is an example of adaptation to ease of speaking.
How important is stress in Russian? Very! What would you think if someone
said to you in English, I bought this at “Montgo-mаir-y
Ward”? Pretty weird-sounding, yes? And one must be careful. Here’s an even
more drammatic example. The word, писђть is the verb, “to write”. But
if the stress is shifted to the first syllable, it becomes the verb for a crude
expression! This author once embarassed himself by making that mistake.
Once the rules are understood, there is almost total consistency in
Russian spelling and pronunciation, because there is very little of the rampant
ambiguity found in English, and there are no dipthongs; in other words, there is
no combining of two letters to produce yet another sound. For example, the word,
“coin” in Russian would come out “ko-een”, a two-syllable word.
Consonant dipthongs, such as found in “this” and “phone” simply
couldn’t exist. Words like “enough” are really off the charts, and are a
source of unbelievable confusion to Russians trying to learn English.
When Russians are speaking fast-and they generally are, because they have
to spit out so many more syllables to say something-it may sound as though they
are combining vowels, but as you become accustomed to the sounds, you’ll find
that they are not.
While there are very few ambiguities in Russian, there are some
substitutions of letters. It appears likely that these grew out of people’s
tendencies to make things easier on themselves; in this case, on their lips,
tongues, and throats. If strict spelling consistency were to be followed, some
Russian phrases would not role comfortably off the palate. As a matter of fact,
you may find that they don’t, no matter what!
In any case, here are some examples of the most common substitutions.
They are called, “variants”, by the way. Russians pronounce it “vree-yahnt”.
They appear in most parts of speech, and are particularly common in the
conjugation of verbs, and in the spelling of imperfective and perfective verbs.
Letters
Words
ж-г
бежђть-я бегџ, мћжет- я могџ
ж-д
вќдеть- я вќжу, љздить-я љзжу
ж-жд
дожидђться-дождђться
ж-з
сказђть-я скажџ, возражђть-возразќть
ш-с
писђть-я пишџ, носќть-я ношџ
ш-х
тќхо-тќше, махђть-я машџ
щ-ст
простќть-я прощџ
щ-ск
искђть-я ищџ
щ-т
возвращђть-возратќть, обращђть-обратќть
ч-к
грћмче-грћмко,
плђкать-я плђчу
ч-т
платќть-я плачџ,
отвечђть-отвљтить
ч-ц
отљц-ћтчество
ч-г
мочь-я
могџ
Note that “плђчу”,
crying, and “плачџ”,
paying, are two different words, differenciated only by the stressed vowel.
There is another very frequently-encountered anomaly in Russian
pronunciation, that of the letter, “г”, which normally is a hard “g”.
In certain words, it is pronounced as though it were a Russian “в”; that
is, like the English “v”. The most common case is with the pronoun, “егћ”,
which means him or his. Instead of “ee-goh”,
it’s pronounced, “ee-voh”. This
is true also of other pronouns that incorporate егћ , such as моегћ,
вђшего, and нђшего. Gender And Number
Agreement
This is an essential part of Russian grammar. Russian nouns and
adjectives have a gender, as do actual objects; people, animals, and such. The
words used to describe, or modify a particular noun must agree in gender. Also,
there must be number agreement, meaning that if the noun is plural, all other
words used in connection with it have to be plural, also. You will see many
examples and further clarification of all this further on. Declension
This term is not encountered in English grammar; it applies only to what
are called inflected languages. It goes back to Latin and Greek. Those of you
who have studied such languages as Italian, Spanish, French, German, and the
Scandinavian tongues know what declension is. For the uninitiated, it refers to
the grammatical treatment of nouns, adjectives, and other parts of speech.
In English, this is accomplished by other means, such as the use of
articles and additional words. For example, one might say, “I gave (to) my
brother a gift”. This is a fairly simple sentence, containing both a direct
object (gift) and an indirect object (brother). “To” is implied. In Russian,
this sentence would utilize what is called the dative case. The forms of the
possessive pronoun “my”-in Russian, “мой”-and the noun,
“brother”-in Russian, “брат”-are changed to “моемџ” and “брђту”,
respectively. Thus, the sentence comes out, “Я дал(ђ) моемџ
брђту подђрок”. Why the (а)? If the speaker is female, she must
genderize the past-tense form of the verb, “to give”, which she would do by
adding the “а”. Thus, дал becomes далђ. The Cases Nominative.....что,
кто? Phonetic equivalents shtoh, ktoh? What, Who? The names of things. Genitive.....чегћ,
когћ? Phonetic equivalents che-voh,
kah-voh? Of what, of whom, or from
what, from whom? Very widely used. Main functions are possession and
quantity-that is, counting and expressing amounts. Genitive is also the case of
negation, both in numbers of things and other types of statements. It might be
thought of as the case of “of”. Dative.....чемџ,
комџ? Phonetic equivalents che-moo,
kah-moo? To what, to whom? Basically, the case of the indirect object.
It also has some other applications, such as going to something animate (friend,
relative, doctor), state of being (hot, cold, etc.), according to, expressions
of age, and need-to-do. These will be best understood by studying the examples
shown later. Accusative.....что,
когћ? Phonetic equivalents shtoh, kah-voh?
Sometimes the same as nominative, sometimes the same as genitive, sometimes
unique, when the gender is feminine. Basically, the case of the direct object.
Examples to follow will clarify this. Instrumental.....чем,
кем? Phonetic equivalents chem, kem? With what, with whom? Basically, the
case of “with”. Locative.....О
чём,
о ком? Phonetic equivalents ah chohm, ah kohm? About what, about whom? Also,
the case of where and when. Also called the prepositional case, because the
pronouns used with it are always preceded by a preposition, either о, в, or
на. Examples Nominative:
Наш сын высћкий. Our son is tall.
Вђша дочь
красќвая. Your daughter is pretty. Accusative:
Я уважђю тебї (вас). I respect you.
Я люблє моє мать. I love my mother.
Я люблє мђму. I love mama.
Я люблє моегћ брђта. I love my brother.
Я люблє мой дом. I love my house.
Я люблє спать, тђнцевать. I love to sleep, to dance.
Я потерїл моё колесћ. I lost my wheel. Explanation Of The
Accusative
The accusative case is complicated by virtue of the fact that there are
several classifications of nouns that must be given discrete grammatical
treatment. These classifications are: Masculine
inanimate. Example: house, or дом. Treated as nominative. Masculine
animate. Example: brother, or брат. Treated as genitive. Neuter.
Example: wheel, or колecћ. Treated as nominative. Feminine
Group 1. Car, or машќна, steam bath, or бђня. Words that end in “а”
or “я”. These take the following endings: “у” for “а” and “ю”
for “я”. As will be shown later, pronouns and modifiers that are used in
conjunction with such words take similar endings. Feminine
Group 2. Mother, мать; door, дверь. These are femine nouns that end in
a soft sign. The pronouns and modifiers that are used in conjunction with such
words take special accusative feminine endings. The nouns themselves retain the
soft sign ending. In Russian, the soft sign, ь, is known as the мїгкий
знак. In the preceding example, the possessive pronoun мої becomes моє.
Both masculine and feminine nouns can end in a soft sign, but most often, the
word will be feminine. Yes, this is confusing. You simply must memorize which is
which.
Also note in the example the endings, моегћ брђта and мой
дом. These illustrate the difference between masculine animate and inanimate.
Infinitive verb forms (to sleep, to dance) stay as they are. Locative:
Я живџ в большћм бљлом дћме. I live in a big white
house.
Я был (былђ) на концљрте. I was at (a, the) concert.
Я был (былђ) в теђтре. I was in (a, the) theater.
В котћром часџ
мы џжинаем? What time do we eat dinner?
Мы џжинаем в семь часћв.
We will eat dinner at seven o’clock.
В котћрой квартќре онђ живёт? What apartment does
she live in?
As mentioned, the locative is also known as the prepositional case. Note
that one is at a concert, but in a
theater; “на” is more commonly used with open areas, whereas “в” is
more commonly used with enclosed places. Note that “в”, not “на” is
used to express time. ‘В” and
“на” are also used as prepositions in the accusative, along with verbs of
motion (coming, going, carrying, leading, etc.), to express into or onto
something. Examples:
Я идџ в шкћлу. I’m going (walking) to school. Present tense
Я пойдџ в лес. I will go (walk) into the woods. Future tense.
Я идџ на посђдку. I’m going (walking) to the departure
gate (in an airport), present tense.
In the pronoun section further along, you’ll see that locative pronouns
are always associated with the Russian “о”, which means
“about-something”. There are three forms of it; “о”, “об”, and
“ћбо”, which accommodate and complement the pronunciation of the word to
follow. You’ll see how this works in the examples. Genitive:
Я купќл подђрок для моегћ сІна (отцђ, мџжа,
дрџга, и. т. д.). I bought a present for my son (father, husband, male
friend, and so forth). In Russian, “и. т. д.” stands for “и так
дђле”; “and so forth”.
Вот дом мољй сестрІ. Here’s my sister’s house.
Я живџ далекћ от МосквІ. I live far from Moscow.
У менї есть кнќга. I have a book.
Нет, у менї нет книги. No, I don’t have a book.
У тебї (вас) есть дљньги? Do you have money?
Да, у менї есть дљньги. Yes, I have money.
Нет, у менї нет дљнег. No-I have no money.
У тебї (вас) есть машќна? Do you have a car?
Да, у менї есть машќна. Yes, I have a car.
Нет, у менї нет машќны. No, I don’t have a car.
У тебї (вас) есть дом? Do you have a house?
Да, у меня есть дом. Yes, I have a house.
Нет, у менї нет дћма. No, I don’t have a house.
Пћсле понедљлника, менї не бџдет дћма.
After Monday, I won’t be home. (Implied; for an extended period of time).
Пћсле понедљлника, я бџду дћма. After Monday,
I’ll be home.
У когћ ты (вы) мћжешь (мћжете) зђнять дљньги?
From whom can you borrow money?
Я возмџ дљньги в бђнке. I’ll borrow money from the
bank.
Откџда ты (вы) знђешь (знђете)? How (from where?)
do you know?
Я вІшел (вышлђ) из дћма. I went (walked) out of the
house.
Я вошёл (вошлђ) в дћм. I went (walked) into the house.
Я скажџ тебљ (вам) іто от всегћ сљрдца. I
tell you this out of my (own)
heart.
Я сошёл (сошлђ) с горІ. I walked down from the mountain.
У неё тёмные вћлосы и корќчневые
глазђ. She has dark hair and brown eyes.
And on and on and on! As you can see, the genitive is a biggie among the
cases in Russian. This case has many pronouns, a study of which will be included
in a future lesson. For now, note that there are three ways to say
from-something, someone, or somewhere; “из”, “от”, and “с”,
which is also sometimes spelled ‘со”, for purely phonetic reasons. Note
also the difference between having something and not having something. Есть
is essentially the present form of выть, the verb, “to be” or “to
have”. It is used to emphasize possession, basically; “yes, I do
have.....”. Thus, when one doesn’t have whatever, есть is omitted. Since
not having something is considered a form of counting, the genitive declension
is used to express negation.
This also applies to the expressions for “a lot of”, and “few
of”. Thus:
У менї есть мнћго дљнег; I have a lot of money, and У менї
мђло дљнег; I have little money.
Note that when referring to a personal attribute, such as one’s hair,
or whatever, есть is not used; thus the grammar in the example about the
dark hair and brown eyes.
Incidentally, есть is also the verb, “to eat”. The perfective
form is съесть. Note the hard sign, and don’t mistake it for the letter,
“б”. It’s used to create a definitive separation between two syllables.
You dwell on the “sss” sound.
The letter ‘у”, in the genitive roughly translates to “of”;
thus, when one says, “У когћ ты (вы) мћжешь (мћжете)
зђнять дљньги?”, the rough equivalent is, of whom are you able to
borrow money? Interesting, the
answer is in the locative; “в бђнке”, not “из”, “от”, or
“с”. Essentially, “in the bank”.
Also note that the word, “дом”, which means house, is a bit tricky
in the genitive. This is because the genitive form, дћма, can mean either
house or at home. See examples above that express being home and not being home.
Thus, one would say, “я сижџ дћма”; “I sit at home”. However,
the state of something being in the house takes the locative case; в дћме:
“Дивђн в дћме”; the sofa is in the house. In the nominative case,
the genitive spelling pluralizes the word; два дћма.
In the examples, you saw some alternative possessive pronouns in
parentheses. These are the plural and also the formal forms. They would be used
when addressing more than one person, or when addressing someone to whom you
must show particular respect, such as an elder person, a stranger, or a
personage of high office or position.
As illustrated, the genitive is often used for negation; “У менї
нет дћма; I don’t have a house”. In some expressions, double
negation, a no-no in English, is used. “Я нљчего
не знђю”; literally, “I don’t know nothing”. In Russian, this is
perfectly correct. Dative:
Я послђл(а) письмћ моемџ брђту. I sent a letter
to my brother.
Я послђл(а) письмћ моей мђтери. I sent a letter
to my mother. Note the special declension of “мать” to “мђтери”. This is common.
Я сказђл(а) емџ, ей.....I said to him, or her..... Expressions of age
using dative
Скћлько тебљ (вам) лет? How old are you?
Скћлько емџ, ей лет? How old is he, she?
Емџ одќн год. He’s one year old.
Емџ два гћда. He’s two years old.
Љй пять лет. She’s five years old.
Мнљ двђдцать пять лет. I am 25.
Емџ, ей двђдцать пять лет. He, she is 25.
Мнљ двђдцать одќн год. I’m 21.
Мнљ двђдцать два гћда. I’m 22.
Мнљ одќнадцать лет. I’m 11.
Мнљ четІрнадцать
лет. I’m 14.
This usage of the dative might be thought of as a departure from the norm
of counting, which takes the genitive. Roughly translated, one is saying, “How
many years to you, him, her?” The answer is in similar form. Note that the
form for years is determined by the final number. One year is год, two to
four years is гћда, and five years to nineteen years is expressed as лет.
This recycles with every ten years. Thus, strange as it may seem, saying that
one is 21 comes out, “I’m 21 year old!”. The exception is with teens; they
all take лет, including eleven. This will be covered in more detail further
along. Expressions of going
to visit someone using dative
Я пољхал(а)к брђту, к отцџ, к мђтери, к дрџгу,
к подрџге, к врачџ.
I went by vehicle to (see, visit) my
brother, my father, my mother, my friend, my girl friend, the doctor. Here, the
past tense of the verb of motion, пољхать was used. If one had gone on
foot, the past tense of the verb of motion, идтќ would be used;
пошёл for masculine, пошлђ for feminine.
Приезжђй (приезжђйте) к нам гћсти! Come visit
us! Expressions of
according-to and because-of using dative
Я говорє по-рџсски. I speak (in or according to) Russian.
По-дорћге, мы встрљтели незнакћмца. Along
the road, we met a stranger.
По-воскресљньям, я хожџ в цљрковь. I go to
church on Sundays.
In this instance, the dative plural is used to indicate regular or
repeated action. The non-vehicular verb of motion ходќдть, conjugated to
the first person singular, хожџ, is also used to describe repetitive action,
rather than the determinate form, идтќ.
По-мћему, іто не вђжно. In my opinion, it’s not
important.
Я проспђл(а), по-ітому я на рабћту
опоздђл(а). I over-slept, therefore I was late for work. Expressions
of state-of-being using dative
Мнљ хћлодно, жђрко. To me it is cold, hot (I’m cold,
hot).
Мнљ бІло скџчно.
To me it was boring (I was bored). Expressions of
“need-to” using dative
Емџ нђдо рабћтать. He needs to work.
Нам нџжен дождь. We
need rain.
Basically, the dative is used to express doing, saying, giving, etc,
something to someone, something, or some place. Note also that in certain
cases, the dative is used in conjunction with the verbs of motion. Usually, this
is when one is going to a human being; father, mother, doctor, whatever. The
dative preposition, “к” is required. There are a few other instances when
the dative is used in this manner. These will be covered later in the discussion
of the verbs of motion, which are a major field of study, in and of themselves. Instrumental
Я пишџ карандашћм, рџчкой.
I write with a pencil, pen.
Мы прољхали чљрез
Амљрику машќной, автћбусом. We traveled across America by
car, bus.
Ћчень
рђд(а) с тобћй (с вђми) позднакћмиться! Very glad
to meet (become acquainted) with you!
С кем ты говорќл(а)? With whom were you talking?
С кем вы говорќли? Plural or formal form of above.
Я говорќл(а) с Антћном, с Ириной. I was talking
with Anton, with Irina.
As stated, the instrumental is the case of “with”, which can mean
doing something with something, i.e., using an instrument, being or performing
an activity with someone, and so forth. The pronoun, “с”
or “со”, when used in the instrumental, means “with”. However,
the use of the instrumental ending often takes the place of с or со, as we
saw in the examples.
The instrumental also uses several prepositions to form important
expressions. As always, there are gendered endings to consider:
Дљрево за дћмом. The tree is behind the house.
Дљрево за верђндой. The tree is behind the porch.
Машќна прољхала мљжду двумї
грузовикђми. The car went between two trucks.
Стол пљред дивђном. The table is in front of the sofa.
Дљньги лежђт под стџлом. The money lies under the
chair.
Птќца летљла над ћзером. The bird flew over the lake.
Змеї спрїталась под лќстьями. The snake hid
under the leaves.
Sometimes you’ll see an “о” appended to certain prepositions: с-со,
пљред-пљредо, над-нђдо, под-пђдо. This simply has to do
with ease of speaking. It’s easier to say, со мной (with me) that с
мной. The Predicate
Instrumental
Before showing any examples, a few introductory comments. This is one of
the most difficult and confusing facets of Russian grammar, as it seems to have
no corollary; no literal translation that makes any sense. That’s just the way
it is, folks! The predicate instrumental is used to form the noun and any
adjectives used in conjunction with it in the past or future form. This includes
becoming something. Examples
Он был хорћшим пилћтом. He was a good pilot.
Онђ бџдет медсестрћй. She’s going to be a nurse.
Looking ahead to our introduction to pronouns, I’ll point out here an
interesting phenomenon with the instrumental. If a person wants to say that
he’s doing something with another person, the plural of the personal pronoun
is used. Example: “Мы (not Я) с женћй пошлќ на рыбђлку”.
Translation: “I went fishing with my wife”, or “My wife and I went
fishing”.
Of course, the six cases all have plural forms. They are not very
difficult, except that the genitive (that case again!) has quite a variety of
plural endings, some of which follow no specific rule, and must be memorized.
That’s for later. Even the most cursory understanding of declension brings up the question of how to treat foreign words that simply don’t fit Russian declension patterns. For example, in Russian, masculine and feminine names typically have distinctive endings, and these are grammatically treated in their respective genders. But what about a name like Jane Fonda? The last name works okay, but not the first. I once received a letter from my friend Irina, who works in a sport-fishing lodge, saying that Ted Turner had visited the fishing camp “with Jane Fonda”. Irina speaks no English, and thus treated the name in pure Russian grammar, |