Russian letters that are (almost) the same.

- Pronounced like the "a" in the word "father" or "car". It is not the 'flat' "a" sound you sometimes hear in words like "cat" or "flat". - Pronounced like the "k" in "kitten" or "kangaroo". This letter replaces the english "c" sound in words like "cat". - Pronounced like the "m" in man. (Note: Unlike english, the hand-written "" should always start from the bottom) O o - When stressed, it is pronounced like the "o" in "bore". When un-stressed it is pronounced more like the letter "a". (See later notes.) - Pronounced like the "t" in "tap". (Note: The hand-written form for "" should always start from the top, as it looks quite similar to the letter "")

Russian letters that look like english letters but sound different.
(These are the most important to learn so you don't get them mixed up.) - Pronounced like the "v" in "vet". (Equivalent to the english letter "v"). - Pronounced like the "ye" in "yes". - Pronounced like the "n" in "no". (Equivalent to the english letter "n"). - Pronounced like the "r" in "run", but it is rolled. (Equivalent to the english letter "r"). - Pronounced like the "s" in "see". (Equivalent to the english letter "s"). (It might help to remember that it's used like the "s" sound in the english words "centre" and "cent".) - Pronounced like the "oo" in "boot" or "root". - Pronounced like the "h" in "hello". However, this is often pronounced more like the "ch" in the Scottish "Loch" or German "Bach", or the spanish "x" in "Mexico".

Russian letters that look unusual, but have familiar sounds

- Pronounced like the "b" in "bat". (Equivalent to the english letter "b"). - Pronounced like the "g" in "go". (Equivalent to the english letter "g"). - Pronounced like the "d" in "dog". (Equivalent to the english letter "d"). - Pronounced like the "z" in "zoo". (Equivalent to the english letter "z"). - Pronounced like the "i" in "taxi". (Sometimes equivalent to the english letter "i", the short 'ee' sound.). (Note: The hand-written form for "" looks a little like the english "u").

 - Pronounced like the "l" in "love". (Equivalent to the english letter "l"). - Pronounced like the "p" in "pot". (Equivalent to the english letter "p"). - Pronounced like the "f" in "fat". (Equivalent to the english letter "f"). - Pronounced like the "e" in "fed".

New Russian letters and sounds

(The sounds will be familiar, but they don't have their own letter in English). - Pronounced like the "u" in "universe". (Pronounced much like the english word "you"). - Pronounced like the "ya" in "yard". - Pronounced like "yo" in "yonder". - Like "s" in "measure", "pleasure" or "fusion" or like "g" in colour "beige". (As there is no english symbol for this sound, it is usually represented as "zh") - Similar to the "ts" sound in "sits" or "its". - Pronounced like the "ch" in "chips" or "church" . - Pronounced like the "sh" in shut. - Pronounced like "sh" but with your tongue on the roof of your mouth. Try putting your tongue in the same position as you would to say "ch" but say "sh" instead. English speakers may find it hard to define the difference between "" and "". - Pronounced like the "i" in "bit" or "ill". (Said with your tounge slightly back in your mouth.) - This letter is used to form diphthongs. So "o" is like the "oy" sound in "boy" or "a" is like the "igh" in "sigh".

Pronunciation Symbols
(These letters have no sound on their own, but are still considered letters.). - The 'Hard Sign' is rarely used. It indicates a slight pause between sylables. - The 'Soft Sign' makes the previous letter 'soft'. Think of the "p" sound in the word "pew". (Try inflecting a very slight "y" sound onto letter before it.)

A note about vowels

You may have noticed that there are often two forms of a vowel, hard and soft. It may help to note the corresponding vowels.

("a") ("ya")

 ("e") ("ye") ("oo") ("yoo") ("o") ("yo")

and are corresponding vowels but don't really follow this pattern. is also considered a vowel The "y" sound is always pronounced. It may take some time to get used to pronouncing it with consonants. Try the following: (No) - Pronounced "nyet". This is one syllable. (Seven) - Pronounced "syem". (Five) - Pronounced "pyat" o (Metro, underground railway) - Pronounced "mye-tro". Click the green play icon to listen to the word pronounced in Russian.

Spelling Rule 1.
There is a rule for spelling in russian you should keep in mind: "Never write , , or after the letters ', , , , , , ' instead use , , ". It is not important to worry about this yet, but it will help you understand how things are spelt in later lessons.

A note about stress.

In most languages, including English, some syllables are emphasised more than others. A good example would be the word photograph, where the first syllable is stressed. Compare this to Photography where the second symbol is stressed. Phonetically the sound of the vowel changes. Russian works in much the same way. However in some words its important to know which syllable is stressed, this is because the letter o is pronounced very differently depending on whether its stressed or not. Other stressed vowels are important, but if you only remember the o rule, then you will still be able to speak well. Once you start to hear Russians speak, you will be able to copy the way they are pronouncing words. (On this site we will indicate a stressed vowel by underlining it. However, we will only do this to the first occurrences of a word. One syllable words are assumed to be stressed.) Take notice of the following examples: (good-bye) - Pronounced "da-svee-da-nee-ye". (The is pronounced as if it is part of the next word). (thank-you) - Pronounced "spa-see-ba". (yes) - Pronounced "da". (no) - Pronounced "nyet". (100) - Pronounced "sto". (Bye) (Bad)

(Good)

Some Listening Practice

There are many more examples in the following lessons that also have Russian audio that you can listen to. It is important you learn the sounds by listening to the Russian audio in the following lessons. If you learn by listening, your speach will be much clearer. There are hours of audio on this site. Here are some example sentences to get you started. Don't worry about learning the words, just try to learn the sounds of the letters. - (My mother loves music) - (six books) - (seven newspapers) - (eight buildings) - (nine dogs) - (ten students) - (one hundred roubles) - (one hundred dollars)

Russian numbers: 1 to 10
1 - ("a-deen") 2 - ("dva") 3 - ("tree") 4 - ("chye-tir-ye") 5 - ("pyat") 6 - ("shest") 7 - ("syem") 8 - ("vo-syem") 9 - ("dyev-yat") 10 - ("dyes-yat") Read through the numbers 1-10 a couple of times until you are comfortable with them. Try counting from 1 to 10 without referring to them. Then for practice, try counting backwards from 10 to 1 in Russian.

Russian numbers: 11 to 19
Now that you are comfortable with your first Russian numbers, try to learn the numbers from 11 to 19. To help you with reading practice we will not include the trans-literations.

11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 -

Russian numbers: 20 and onwards

As you could see, the numbers 11-19 are simply formed by adding "" to the numbers 1-9. (You will need to drop the soft sign, or the "" in "") 20 in Russian is "". The numbers 21-29 are formed in a similar way to English. Here are some examples: 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - Other compound numbers are formed in the same way, quite similar to English. (There is no need to use the word "and" in Russian). Here are the other numbers you will need to form numbers in Russia. It will be useful to learn as many of these numbers as you can because it makes it easier to understand the price of goods in Russian roubles. 30 - 40 - 50 - 60 - 70 - 80 - 90 - 100 - 200 - 300 - 400 - 500 - 600 - 700 - 800 - 900 -

1,000 - 1,000,000 - 1,000,000,000 - For example: 131 - When reading phone numbers you may also need to know the name of the digit 0. 0 -

Saying Large Russian Numbers

Try pronouncing the numbers below. Then listen to the sound example to see if you are correct. 456 219 9,345 23,564 2,007 2,008 2,000 1,994 1,812

Please and Thank-You.

The two most important words you will learn in Russian are please and thank-you. You can just add these to any sentence to make it more polite. ("spa-see-ba") - Thank-You ("pa-zhal-sta") - Please (and You're Welcome) The word is also used to mean "You're Welcome", after somebody says thank-you. You should always say this after someone thanks you. is pronounced a little different than it is written, you can basically forget the "".

Yes and No.

Two other very important Russian words are "Yes" and "No". ("da") - Yes ("nyet") - No

Saying Hello.

When you are in Russia and you meet somebody, the first thing you will want to do is to say "hello". There are two forms of this word. ("zdra-stvooy-tye") - Hello (Formal) ("pree-vyet") - Hi (Informal) may be a little difficult for you to pronounce at first, but it is the most common Russian greeting so you should try to practice it. is also commonly used with friends. However, keep in mind that is informal (much like "hi" in English), and should only be used with friends. If somebody says to you, then it is normally safe to proceed in the friendly tone.

Introducing Yourself.
In order to introduce yourself, you may need the following phrases. ... ("min-ya za-voot") - My name is ... ? ("kak vas za-voot") - What is your name? ("och-en pree-yat-na") - Pleased to meet you.
Note: The above 3 phrases are gramatically unusual. You should just learn the whole phrase, not the individual words.

How are you?

The most natural way to ask someone how they are in Russian is to ask: "how are things?" ? - How are things? - Good/Well thank-you - Bad

Saying Good-Bye.
There are also two words for saying good-bye. ("da-svee-da-nee-ye") - Good-bye. (The is pronounced as if it is part of the next word) ("pa-ka") - Bye (Informal, slang) You should generally use , which is appropriate in formal or informal situations. You may also hear people say , but we suggest you only use it with friends.

Asking about languages

When you are asking a yes/no question in Russian, there is no difference between the question and the statement, except for the question mark. When you are speaking Russian you should ask questions in a different tone. The tone of your voice should rise if you are asking a question. If you are making a statement your tone will naturally fall. You may find that you actually do this in English without meaning to. If all else fails, put a real questioning expression on your face. -? - Do you (formal) speak English? -? - Do you (formal) speak Russian?

 - - I speak English - - I speak Russian - I understand - I don't understand

Finding a cafe
After a busy day in Russia, you might be looking for somewhere to have a drink. You could ask people with the following phrases. , .... - Tell me please.... , , ? - Tell me please, where is a cafe? , , ? - Tell me please, where is a bar? Russian does not use the articles a or the, so the phrase ? means both where is a cafe? and where is the cafe?. It will probably sound more natural to ask where the nearest caf is. , , ? - Tell me please, where is the nearest cafe?

On the Menu
If you were in a Russian bar or caf, here are some words you might see on the menu: - Menu - Coffee - Tea - Milk - - Coca-Cola - Lemonade - Juice - Russian beetroot soup - Soup - Cake - Vodka - Beer - Wine - Water

Be careful, when you order vodka in russia, you will generally get straight vodka.

Do you have...?
If you want to ask someone if they have something, you can use the following phrase. (Just learn the whole phrase, it is gramatically unusual). ....? - Do you have ....? (formal)

For example:
? - Do you have coffee? ? - Do you have tea? ? - Do you have vodka?

Please give me
When you decide what you will have you will need to order. Here are some Russian phrases you might need, or be asked: ? ("shto?") - What? ? - What do you want? ... - I want... , .... - Give me please... ? - How much is it?.

Examples:
, , . - Please give me tea. , , - Please give me coffee. , , - Please give me coffee with milk. , , - Please give me coffee with milk and sugar.

What is it?
Some short but useful Russian phrases to ask what things are... ? - What is it? . - It is coffee. , . - Excuse me, is it coffee? , . - No, it is tea.

How Much?
The word "?" means "how much?" or "how many" in Russian. You can use it to ask the price of something.

? - How much? / How many? ? - How much does it cost? - 21 rubles.

How do you say?

Another very useful phrase is how do you say?. It will allow you to learn more Russian words by actually speaking Russian. Here are some useful phrases... "...." -? - How do you say "...." in Russian? "...." ? - What does "...." mean in English?

Where is the toilet...?

To finish up this lesson here is a Russian phrase to help you find out where a toilet is. , , - Tell me please, where is the toilet? The mens toilets are normally labeled with an "M". The ladies toilets are normally labeled with a "".

Definitions
Verbs are action words, they are things you can do. For example: run, walk, love, eat, want. Pronouns are words that can replace names. For example: I, you, he, she, him, her, it. In the sentence "I love him". "love" is the verb. The subject is "I", and the object is "him".

Russian Pronouns
Here are the Russian pronouns that can be used as the subject of a sentence. (Known as the nominative case.) -I - You (informal) - He, It (m) - She, It (f) - It (n) - We - You (formal, or plural)

 - They is used as the formal singular "you", and the plural "you" (slang: "yous" or "you all") when talking to more than one person. Here are the Russian pronouns that can be used as the object of a sentence. (Known as the accusative case) - Me - You (informal) - ("yevo") - Him, It (m,n) - Her, It (f) - Us - You (formal, or plural) - Them You should be familiar with using different pronouns for the subject and object of a sentence ("me" instead of "I"). Just remember that unlike English,Russian uses an extra version of the word "you". You should memorise these pronouns.

Russian Verbs
You will be pleased to know that Russian has only one present tense. In Russian there is only one way of saying "I work", "I am working" and "I do work". Russian verbs change their endings depending on the subject. This happens a little in English, but not as much. (Example: I work, he works). This happens according to two different patterns known as the first conjugation, and the second conjugation. (There are also some irregular verbs). Both these patterns are quite similar, and once you get the hang of it, it is not too difficult.

The first conjugation

The first conjugation is used for verbs ending in "" but not "". It is the most common. To form the verb for each person you need to drop the last two letters of the infinitive (normally ""), and add the appropriate ending ("", "", "", "", "" or "").Lets take a look at a verb that uses the first conjugation: (to work). - To work. (infinitive, dictionary form) - I work - You work , , - He, She, It works. - We work - You work. - They work. Let's try some other Russian words from the first conjugation: - To understand. (infinitive, dictionary form)

 - I understand. - You understand. , , - He, She, It understands - We understand. - You understand. - They understand. - To know. (infinitive, dictionary form) - I know. - You know. , , - He, She, It knows. - We know. - You know. - They know.

Remember you can make a statement negative by using the word "" (not). For example: - I don't know. - I don't understand. - He doesn't understand. You can also form questions: ? - Do you know? ? - Do you understand?

The second conjugation

Verbs where the infinitive ends in "" use the second conjugation. Now we will introduce some verbs from the second conjugation. There are also some other verbs that use this conjugation. The second conjugation uses the endings "" (or "") "" "" "" "" "" (or ""), which replace "". Note 1: The second conjugation is affected by the spelling rules. Note 2: The first person singuar is affected by the rule of consonant mutation. Remember, this only applies to the first-person singular (). - To speak. (infinitive, dictionary form) - I speak. - You speak. , , - He, She, It Speaks. - We speak.

 - You speak. - They speak. - To hear. - I hear. - You hear. - He, She, It hears. - We hear. - You hear. - They hear.

For Example: - - I speak English - - He speaks Russian -? - Do you speak Russian? - - We don't speak Russian. - - The dog doesn't speak English.

Irregular Verbs
There are a number of irregular verbs in Russian. (Verbs that don't exactly follow the above rules). However, often once you know the stem of the verb, you can often predict the endings. Even irregular verbs normally follow a similar pattern to those above. Some examples: - To go (by transport). - I go (by transport). - You go (by transport). , , - He, She, It goes (by transport). - We go (by transport). - You go (by transport). - They go (by transport). Notice that once you know the stem "" it almost follows the first conjuction, except that "" replaces "".

- To live. - I live. - You live. , , - He, She, It lives. - We live. - You live. - They live.

Notice that "" is used instead of "" when the stress falls on the ending. Examples: - I live in London. - He is going home

Definitions
Noun - A noun is a thing, name or place. Example: dog, cat, Moscow, cup, paper, pen. Cases - Cases are a grammatical way of determining what a noun does in a sentence. In English we do this by having a strict word-order. In Russian we use 6 cases. Vowel - Letters that can be said with an open vocal tract. The letters , , , , , , , , , and . (A,E,I,O,U in English). Consonant - A letter that is not a vowel. (Except , because they have no sound).

Gender of nouns.
In Russian, as with many other languages, each noun is assigned a gender. Russian has three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter (neutral). In the cases of words like father these relate to physical gender. In the case of other objects like pen, cup, house, there is no physical meaning attached to the gender. However you will still need to know the gender because it affects how words are formed. Luckily, unlike many languages, in Russian it is almost always possible to tell what the gender of a noun by its spelling. This is not true in some other languages where you just have to memorise them. When you use a noun as the subject of a sentence, it will be in its dictionary form. In this form you can easily work out its gender. If the noun is in another part of the sentence the ending is changed to suit the case. From the dictionary form of a noun, here is how you can tell what the gender is: 1. Look at the last letter of the word: 2. If it is a consonant, or , the word is masculine. 3. If it is or it is feminine. 4. If it is or it is neuter. 5. If it is a soft sign then it could be either masculine or feminine. There are very few exceptions to these rules. But there are five notable exceptions, this occurs mainly because of physical gender. - (Daddy, Papa) - Is Masculine - (Uncle) - Is Masculine - (Grandfather) - Is Masculine - (Man) - Is Masculine - (Coffee) - Is Masculine

Some examples: Masculine : (passport), (document), (brother), (bread). Feminine : (newspaper), (Russia), (daughter) Neuter : (building), (radio), (letter)

Cases in Russian
Russian grammar uses the case system. The case system is also used in languages like Latin, Greek and German. In fact it was also used in Old English. In Russian there are six cases. To help you understand what cases are we will compare them to English... In English the subject of the sentence must be first noun. For example... Ivan gives flowers to Anna. ( ) In English it makes no sense to swap the position of the words Ivan and flowers. The meaning of the sentence would be completely changed. In Russian it is possible to change the order of these words, and still keep the same meaning. You may wish to do this to emphasise something. Although it is common in Russian to use a similar word order to English. The Russian words position is not so important because its meaning in the sentence is indicated by its case. To indicate each case we change the ending of word. Lets look at the six cases (You dont need to remember this yet): Nominative case : The subject of the sentence. (Ivan) Accusative case: The object of the sentence. (flowers) Dative case: The indirect object of the sentence (Anna) Genitive case: Indicates ownership. (Eg. Annas flowers) Instrumental case: Indicates with or by means of. (Anna writes with a pencil) Prepositional case: Used after certain propositions. (In, on, at, and about.) For example the word Anna in the six different cases would be: Nominative case: Accusative case: Dative case: (to Anna) Genitive case: (Annas) Instrumental case: (with Anna) Prepositional case: (about Anna) We will teach you how to form the cases over the next few lessons so dont worry too much now. It is just important to understand that case effectively gives a word its meaning in the sentence. Understanding the case system is often one of the biggest hurdles for people learning Russian, so we will take it slowly. Once the case system is understood the Russian language will really open up to you, and we can concentrate more on vocabulary. Our lessons are designed for English speakers so we will not assume much knowledge of grammar. Its important not to worry much about the fine details of grammar at first. You will learn it more naturally when you start using Russian. Remember that Russian children all learnt to speak Russian before they understood any grammar. Just try to get a good general overview of the grammar.

Interestingly, some remnants of the case system still exist in English, especially pronouns. For example we must use me instead of I when not the subject.

The Nominative Case. (The subject of a sentence)

The nominative case is used for the subject of a sentence. In the sentence I love her, the word I is the subject. The nominative case is the dictionary form for nouns, so there is nothing special to learn here. The only time you need to change the ending is to form the plural. In English we make a plural by adding s. In Russian, in the nominative case, you make a plural by using the letters , , or . For masculine nouns: If the word ends in a consonant, add . Replace with Replace with For feminine nouns: Replace with Replace with Replace with For neuter nouns: Replace with Replace with Examples: becomes: (student - students) becomes: (newspaper - newspapers) becomes: (building - buildings)

The Accusative Case. (The object of a sentence)

To form simple sentences like I want a dog, you need to use the accusative case also. The accusative case is used for the object of a sentence, in this case the word dog. The only time we use the accusative case in English is with pronouns. We use me instead of I and him instead of he. Russian uses the case for all nouns. Russian is very free about word order. For example, in Russian it may be possible to change the order of the words in a sentence, without changing the actual meaning. This doesnt work in English because we rely on the subject always coming first. However, in Russian it still makes perfect sense because the object will still be in the accusative case. It is normal in Russian to use the same word ordering as English. Definition: An animate noun is something that is alive (person or animal, not plants). An inanimate noun is a non-living object. Here are the rules for forming the accusative case from the dictionary (nominative) form.

Masculine Nouns: 1. If the noun in inanimate, there is no change. 2. If noun is animate and ends in a consonant, add . 3. If noun is animate, replace , with . 4. If noun is animate, replace , add . Feminine Nouns: 1. Replace with . 2. Replace with . Neuter Nouns: 1. Inanimate nouns do not change (almost all neuter nouns are inanimate). Examples: remains: (sport) becomes: (music) becomes: (Moscow) becomes: (newspaper) remains: (building) becomes: (Ivan) You will learn about the plurals of the accusative case in a later lesson.

To Love
Let's start with the Russian verb "to love": (, ) (View Conjugations) Remember that a noun after I love should be in the accusative case as it is the object of the sentence. Here are some uses of the word: - I love sport. - I love music. - I don't like music. ? - Do you love music? - I love Moscow. - He loves Moscow. - Ivan loves tea. - Nadya loves wine. - Nadya doesn't like wine.

"I love you" in Russian

You should now know enough Russian to say 'I love you' - I love you. This particular phrase is usually said with the word order above. It would still make sense to say: . Try inserting different pronouns (from lesson 5) into this phrase to change the meaning. Remember to select the pronoun to match the case: - I love him. - I love her. - She loves me

What?
The word "?" (pronounced "shto?") means "What?". You can use it to form questions.

? - What do you love? However, if you see the word "" in the middle of a sentence, it is probably the conjunction "that". The word "" has two uses, so don't be confused. An example could be: , . - I know that you love music.

Using other Russian verbs

To express yourself better in Russian you will need to learn some more Russian verbs. Let's introduce some new Russian verbs now. If you would like, you can see how these verbs are conjugated by clicking here. - to watch. - to read. - to listen - to study - to think - to work - to want

Here are some possible uses of these verbs: - I am watching television. - I am listening to the radio. - I am listening to music. - I am reading a magazine. - I am reading the newspaper - I am reading a book.

 - I study Russian. (lit: I study the Russian language). - I think so! ? - What do you think? (lit: How do you think?) - I want tea. ? - What do you want?

Sometime you will want to talk about an action. For example "I like to read" or "I want to read". In such cases you are using 2 verbs in a row. In Russian you should leave the 2nd verb in the infinitive form. For example: - I love to read. - I love to travel. - I want to buy a magazine.

Very
A very useful Russian word is the word for "very". You can include it into many phrases. It sometimes replaces the word "really" also. For example: - very. (or really) - I really love sport. - I really love Moscow.

Question Words
You may also find these question words useful during your travels around Russia. ? - Where? ? - Who? ? - What? ? - How? ? - Why?

Forming the prepositional case

To form the prepositional case you should take the nominative form (dictionary form) and do the following to the end of the word: Masculine Nouns: 1. Add : . 2: Some nouns (mostly single syllable) take (but not after preposition )

Feminine Nouns: 1. Replace with . 2. Replace with . 3. Replace with . 4. Exception: Replace , it becomes Neuter Nouns: 1. Replace with 2. remains unchanged.

Using prepositions and the prepositional case.

As with any language, Russian prepositions can sometimes have slightly different uses and meanings than in English. Here are some tips to help you, although these arent precise rules. The word (in) is used to replace the English word at, when you are referring to enclosed spaces or buildings. (Eg. at school) The word (on/at) replaces the English word at when you are talking about open spaces or places that were traditionally open spaces. (Eg. at work, at a station, at a concert). Now you can easily tell people where you live: ? - Where do you live? - I live in Moscow. - I live in London. - I live in St. Petersburg. - I live in Siberia. As with "" you should change the case of other cities, suburbs and places, even though they are not Russian. You can also describe where something or someone is: ? - Where is she? - at the station - at the post office - in the garden - in the forest - on the street

? - What is on the table? - On the table is a book and a pencil.

Other Places
Here are some names of other useful places. (They are in dicionary form) - cinema - theatre

 - pharmacy - park - stadium - school - library - cafe - square - restaurant - bank - hotel - museum - hospital

Location and Direction

Sometimes, prepositions have more than one meaning, you can tell this by the case. When answering questions asked with the word "" (Where is (location)), your answer will involve the prepositional case. However, when you answer questions asked with "" (Where to), you would use the accusative case. Here are some examples for you to compare. - Where are you going (to)? (Indicates direction) - I am going to school.

? - Where do you work? (Indicates a location) - I work at (in) a school. Here are some useful words and phrases for finding your way around Russia. - Straight ahead. - To the left. - To the right. - Straight ahead then to the right.

Going Places in Russian

In Russian there are two words that can be used to express I am going. The first indicates you are going on foot, the second indicates that you are going by some form of transport. Both these words are verbs of motion, and are grammatically quite complex, but as these words are so important for basic Russian, we will introduce them now in a simple way. A more detailed lesson on verbs of motion will follow at a later stage Each of these 2 verbs (and all verbs of motion) come in pairs. The first indicates to go in one direction, the second indicates to go in more than one direction or to go somewhere repetitively. You will notice from the examples that this often relates to when you use 'going' or 'go' in English. So to express to go in Russian, there are actually four ways:

 - To go on foot, in one direction.

( , , , , , ) - I am going to school. - I am going to the cinema. ? - Are you going to the cinema? - He is going to the hotel. - We are going to the cafe. - I am going to the university

- To go on foot, in more than one direction, or repetitively.

( , , , , , ) - I go to school. - I often go to the cinema - We go to the cafe every day.

- To go by transport, in one direction.

( , , , , , ) - I am going to school. (by transport) - I am going to the cinema on the metro. - He is going to the hotel by taxi. - We are going to the cafe. (by transport) - He is going to London

- To go by transport, in more than one direction, or repetitively

( , , , , , ) - He often goes to London - I go to the theatre every day. - They often go to Amsterdam

Russian Family Words

Here are the words Russians commonly use to refer to members of their family:

 - mother - father - mum - dad - sister - brother - daughter - son - grandmother - grandfather - wife - husband - auntie - uncle - parents - children - granddaughter - grandson - family Just like English, in Russian there are two ways to refer to your mother and father. For example we use the words mum and dad. Most commonly Russians use the words Mama and Papa to refer to their parents.

Basic russian phrases

Quite often you want to tell people how many brothers and sisters you have. Here are some Russian phrases you could use. - I have a sister. - I have a brother. ? - Do you have children?. - I have a son and a daughter. - I don't have any children.

Note: This grammar explained in lesson 10.

Possesive Pronouns
In order to talk about your family you normally need to use possesive pronouns so we will introduce them now. You should always choose the possesive pronoun that matches the gender of the item it owns. (m), (f), (n), (pl) - my (m), (f), (n), (pl) - your (m n) ("yevo"), (f) - his, her (m), (f), (n), (pl) - our

 (m), (f), (n), (pl) - your - their Now you will be able to combine Russian words and phrases that your learnt in earlier lessons to talk about your family. Here are some Russian phrases and sentences you could say with words you already know. - My mother loves music - My sister is reading a newspaper - My brother loves sport - Your brother loves sport - Our brother loves sport When you introduce members of your family you will need to adapt one of the phrases we learnt lesson 3. For example, you may wish to say her name is Anna. However, the only problem is that this particular phrase is unusual. The pronouns need to be used in the genative case which we have not learnt yet. So here are two examples that you can use for now: - my name is Anna - her name is Anna - his name is Ivan.

This is...
The Russian word means 'this is'. Here is how you can use it with some possesive pronouns. - This is my house - This is my apartment ? - Is this your apartment?

Common greetings
Finally, we will introduce some common greeting phrases that you may wish to use every now and again. - good morning - good afternoon - good evening - goodnight (when going to bed)

Forming the genitive case

Masculine Nouns:
1. If the noun ends in a consonant, add . 2. Replace , with . 3. Replace , add .

Feminine Nouns:
1. Replace with . 2. Replace with . 3. Replace with .

Neuter Nouns:
1. Replace with 2. Replace with For example, some names in the genitive case: (Ivan) becomes (of Ivan, Ivan's) becomes (of Adam, Adam's) becomes (of Anna, Anna's) - Ivan's house (lit: House of Ivan). It may be worthwhile noting that the genitive case for masculine nouns is formed the same way as the accusative case for masculine animate nouns.

Using the genitive case - ownership

As you can see in the above example, you can use the genitive case to indicate possession. The 'owner' is the noun that is used in the genitive case. (This is like using 's in English). However, in Russian, the object that is owned always comes first. In the phrase " ", the house () is owned by Ivan. This is a similar concept to using the word 'of'' in English. Let's have a look at some more examples. - Adam's dog. (lit: The dog of Adam's) - Anna's car. (lit: The car of Anna's) - Igor's telephone. (lit: The telephone of Igor's) ? - Is this Adam's telephone? (lit: Is this the telephone of Adam's)

In the above examples, pay particular attention to the order of the words. Now lets see some examples of the genitive case used like this in sentences. - Adam's brother loves Moscow. - Anna's sister is reading the newspaper. - Ivan's grandfather is listens to the radio.

Did you notice that we used 3 different cases in the sentences above? It is important to understand why each case used. For example, in the first sentence: (brother) is thesubject of the

sentence and uses the nominative case, (Adam) is the owner of the first noun and uses the genitive case, (Moscow) is the direct object of the verb and uses the Accusative case.

Using the genitive case - of

The genitive case is used to correspond to the English word of. This is exactly the same concept as above, except here we will give examples where you would actually use the word of in English. - A map of the city. - A glass of milk.

Pronouns of the genitive case

The pronouns of the genitive case are the same as the accusative case. (, , , , , , )

Using the genitive case - to have

As the genitive case relates to possession, it is also used to create a way of saying to have or to not have. As we have seen in a previous lesson, Russians dont construct to have sentences like we do in English. To create these sentences you use the words (by/near) and (exist/is). There is no exact way to literally translate this concept to English, but you would construct the sentence I have a dog something like By me there exists a dog. Generally, it is just easier to learn the concept by example. The noun or pronoun following the word is used in the genitive case. Here are some examples. - I have book. . - She has a dog. ? - Do you have coffee? ? - Do you have tea? ? - Do you have vodka? ? - Does Adam have vodka? ? - Does Anna have vodka? ? - Does Ivan have tea?

Using the genitive case - there is not

The Russian word has a second meaning. As well as meaning No it also means There isn't .... These meanings are quite similar and you probably would have understood the meaning of in this context without it being explained. When it is used with a person it indicates that they are not here. The important thing to remember is that is followed by the genitive case. Here are some examples. - There is no tea. - There is no milk. - Ivan isn't here. - He is not home. - There is no coffee. (coffee is an indeclinable noun)

Using the genitive case - numbers, quantaties, plurals.

The genitive case is used after most numbers, for example "10 roubles". This will be covered in the next lesson

Forming Plurals.
First we will show you how to form the plurals in each of the cases we have already learnt. It is quite a bit of information to present all at once, but dont worry, you will find it easier to learn and remember when you see it used in context later in the lesson.

The Nominative Case - Plural (Subject)

In Russian, in the nominative case, you make a plural by using the letters "", "", "" or "". For masculine nouns: If the word ends in a consonant, add . Replace with Replace with For feminine nouns: Replace with Replace with Replace with (unless previous consonant is , , , , , , then replace with "" as per the spelling rules.) For neuter nouns: Replace with Replace with (don't forget the spelling rules) Some examples: (student) - (students) (newspaper) - (newspapers) (building) - (buildings)

The Accusative Case - Plural (Direct Object)

For plural nouns the accusative case just 'borrows' from the other cases, depending on whether the object is animate or not. Inanimate nouns (not-alive) : Same as the nominative plural. Animate nouns (alive) : Same as the genitive plural.

The Genitive Case - Plural (Possession)

The genitive seems to have the most rules for the plural, but it generally ends in - (manculine) or it is cut short (feminine). These rules refer to converting nouns from the nominative singular (dictionary form). For masculine nouns: If ends in ",,,," then add "" If ends in ", " (stressed) add "" All other masuline nouns end in "" For feminine nouns: If ends in "" then drop "" (no ending) If ends in [consonant] "" then "" If ends in [vowel] "" then "" If ends in "" then add "" Note: If a feminine word ends in a double consonant it is quite common for a vowel (, ) to be inserted for easy pronunciation. ( - , - , - ) For neuter nouns: If ends in "" then drop "" (no ending) If ends in "" becomes "" If ends in "" becomes "" Some examples: - (students') - (newspapers') - (buildings')

General use of plurals.

The Russian language works a little differently depending on whether you are counting something, or whether you are just using general plurals. For example in a sentence like The books are on the table we dont specify how many books are on the shelf. In this instance you should just have the word books in its normal case, but in the plural form. Here are some examples. - The books are on the table. - Anna loves books.

Plurals with numbers

In the situation where you would like to specify how many books there are you will need to use the genitive case. Its kind of like saying 2 of books or 10 of roubles. This may feel a little strange at first, but it will become natural as you learn and hear more of the language. You will hear this quite often when you are talking about amounts of money. Occasionally we use a similar construction in English hundreds of dollars or a lot of money, but in Russian we use it for all numbers. Ok, now that we understand when to use counting-plurals, lets see how to use them.

Numbers ending in : 1
If the number is 1, or the number ends in the word '' (example: 1, 21, 61) (but not 11), then you should use the case (singular) that is suitable for the position in the sentence. The number one declines like an adjective. Here are some examples. - one girl - I know one girl - one rouble - 21 roubles - one dollar

Numbers ending in : 2,3,4

If the number, or the last digit of the number is 2, 3 or 4, (example: 22, 42, 103, 4) (but not 12, 13 & 14), then you should use the genitive singular case.. Here are some examples. - three roubles - four roubles - two books - three dogs - four dollars - four students - three newspapers

Numbers ending in : 5,6,7,8,9,0, -

If the number ends in any other digit you should use the genitive plural. All the 'teens' (-) fit in to this catagory (11, 12, 13, 14, etc) - five roubles - ten roubles - one hundred roubles - one hundred dollars - six books - seven newspapers - eight buildings - nine dogs - ten students Nobody really knows why we use two different plural formations in the Russian language. To help you get used to this concept, try using plurals that involve money. You are probably quite used to hearing the words rouble or dollar, so if you practice pronouncing these words in the different cases to form plurals your brain should be able to become accustomed to this concept very quickly.

So in summary...
Quantity ends in 1 - As per position in the sentence. Quantity ends in 2,3,4 - Genitive Singular. Quantity ends in 5,6,7,8,9,0,- - Genitive Plural General Quantity - Genitive Case (Singular or Plural depending on context.) Quantity not specified - Use the case that is appropriate to the sentence position.

Expressing Your Age in Russian

When talking about your age you need to know the word years. In Russian this word has an irregular plural: 1: 2-4: 5-0: ? - How old are you. - I am 18 years old - I am 23 years old.

Notice that the dative case is used for the pronouns. This is occurs often when you are expressing the state of something. (Lit: To me there are 16 years). Much like - I am cold (lit: to me its cold). You will learn more about this in the lesson 13 - the dative case.

Russian Names
Note the use of the accusative case for pronouns in this construction. ? - What is your name? . - My name is Vera. ? - What is her name? - Her name is Alyona. ? - What is his name? - His name is Boris. Here are some other common Russian names for men... - Nikolay () - Boris - Vladimir (, )

 - Pyotr, Peter. - Andrey - Alexander (, ) - Dimitry () - Sergey - Aleksey And here are some common Russian names for women. - Yelena () - Natalya () - Mariya () - Olga () - Alexandra () - Oxana - Yekaterina - Anastasiya () - Nadezhda () - Anna () Note: the form in brackets is the diminutive form of the name. This is like a pet name. (For example in English 'William' is also 'Will'). There are many diminuatives for each Russian name and they are commonly used. The diminuative is a more personal, or tender form, and should only be used when you are in close firendship. The exception is when a person intruduces themself using this form.

Russian Greetings
Here are some Russian greetings that we learnt in earlier lessons. You should be able to remember all of these. - Hello - Hi (Informal) - good morning - good afternoon - good evening - goodnight (when going to bed)

Please and Thank-You

Never forget please and thank-you. - Thank-You - Please (and You're Welcome)

Really Small Russian Words

To help you remember, here is a summary of those really small Russian words that we have learnt. Some of these may be new, but try to learn them all. In fact all of these words are from the 100 most used words in the Russian language - and - and/but (contrasting)

 - but - or The word "" is generally used when you could use either the english words "and" or "but". For example, in the sentence "I am in Moscow and he is in Kiev.", the statements are related but contrast each other so you could also use the word "but". In Russian we would use the word "". These prepositions are commonly used in Russian - with - near, by (also used in the "to have" construction) , - in (+prepositional), to (+accusative) - on, at (+prepositional), onto, to (+accusative) , - about - towards, to - for (+accusative), behind (+instrumental) - out of, from - from - along, (also used with languages)

You should already know these pronouns. Refer to lesson 5 if you have forgotton. -I - he, it - you (informal) - you (formal/plural) - him, it - her, it - them

Using the Russian Language

Now we will give you some sample Russian sentences. You might also find some new words in these sentences. We will use only common words, so you should try to learn them all. Also pay attention to the different cases used for nouns and how verbs are formed. , , ? - Tell me please, where is the toilet? ? - Do you have coffee? . - There is no coffee. ? - Do you have tea? . - There is no tea. ? - What do you want? , . - I want tea please. , , . - Give me please, coffee with milk and with sugar. ? - Do you have vodka? ? - Does Anna have vodka? ? - Does Ivan have tea? , -. - I know that you speak Russian. -. - He loves to speak English . - My mum loves music.

 -? - Does your borther speak Russian? . -. - Yes. He speaks Russian well. -. - The dog doesn't speak English. -? - Why don't you speak Russian? . - I understand. . - I don't understand. ? - Do you understand? , . - I know that you understand. , . - I think that you understand. ? - Why don't you understand? - I live in London. - He is going home. ? - Where? ? - Who? ? - What? ? - How? ? - When? ? - Why? ? - What do you know? ? - What do you think? ? - Where is he? ? - Where is the cafe? ? - Who is he? - I am reading a magazine. - I am studying the Russian language. - I am listening to music. - I really love sport. - I really love Moscow. - Adam's brother loves Moscow. - My sister is reading a newspaper. - Anna's siser is reading a newspaper. - Ivan's grandfather is listenig to the radio. - My Mum loves music. - He is not home. ? - How much? - 100 roubles. ? - How much? - 4 dollars. ? - How much? - 21 roubles. ? - How much? - 4 roubles.

Forming the dative case.

To create nouns in the dative case, we first start with the nominative (dictionary) form.

Masculine Nouns:
1. If the noun ends in a consonant, add . 2. Replace , with . 3. Replace , add .

Feminine Nouns:
1. Replace with . 2. Replace with . 3. Replace with . 4. Replace with .

Neuter Nouns:
1. Replace with 2. Replace with

Plurals:
Look at the last letter nominative singular form (dictionary form) and... 1. If the noun ends in a consonant, add "". 2. Replace "", "" or a consonant with "". 3. Replace the last letter with "" Here are some examples. - - - -

Pronouns of the Dative Case.

It is worth learning the dative case personal pronouns quite well as they are used more than you might expect. - me. - you (informal). (m), (n), (f) - him, it, her. - us. - you (formal, or plural). - them.

Using the Dative Case for Indirect Objects

The indirect object is the person or object in a sentence that receives something. For example in the sentence Ivan gives flowers to Anna, the word Anna is the indirect object. It should be used in the dative case. In this sentence notice that the dative case is used in the place of the word to. When the above sentence is rearranged to Ivan gives Anna flowers, the word Anna is still used in the dative case as Anna is the person who is receiving the object. Similarly, in Russian the word order of a sentence can be rearranged. In fact because Russian uses the case system words can be rearranged much more freely than in English. For this reason, you need to be able to recognise cases effectively. The word (give) is commonly used with the dative case. Here are the conjuctions: - (I) give - (you) give - (he) gives - (we) give - (you) give - (they) give The command forms of this word include... - give! - give! You will learn more about commands in a later lesson. (View all conjugations) Here are some examples - Ivan gives flowers to Anna. - I give flowers to Anna. - They give flowers to Elena. ... - Give me ... . - Give me your address and telephone number.

Other uses of the dative case meaning to

There are a number of verbs that can be used with the dative case. Most of these involve giving something or communicating something. In English we sometimes also use the word to in these situations. Here are a couple of verbs that use the dative case: - to help (to give help to) - I am helping Anna. - I am helping Ivan. - We help mother every day. - I am helping this girl.

 - to call (to make a phone call to) - She calls Ivan every day. - Ivan calls Anna every day.

To Like
In an earlier lesson we met the Russian verb "" (to love). If you would like to say I like which is not quite so strong you must use the word "" (to like). However this verb is used differently, and it relies on the dative case. The dative case is used where you would expect the subject. Although it's almost impossible to translate literally to English, it is like saying To me it is likable. The object that is liked is the subject and is used in the nominative case. This is verb is also a reflexive verb, a concept which we havent learnt yet. (The "" ending is reflexive). However it is a common word, so it is worth learning now. You will learn how to conjugate it in a later lesson. (It conjugates relative to the word in the nominative case, so in most examples this verb is used in the 3rd person, so it is enough for now just to learn this form.) Practice using the word . It is also a good chance to practice your dative case pronouns. - I like Moscow. (lit: Moscow is pleasing to me.) - She likes Moscow. (lit: Moscow is pleasing to her.) - He likes Moscow. - You like Moscow. - Adam likes Moscow. ...? - How do you like ...? ? - How do you like the film? ? - Do you like Moscow? If the subject is plural use - I like the children. (lit: children are pleasing to me.) - I like your children. - I like the flowers. - I really like the flowers.

Feelings
Interestingly in Russian the dative case can be used to express the state of something. You commonly use this to express whether you are hot or cold. Although we have not learnt any adjectives yet, it is still worth learning these examples. Again you will make use of the dative case pronouns. - I am cold (to me its cold) - I am hot (to me its hot) - He is cold (to him its cold)

 - She is cold (to her its cold) - We are cold (to us its cold) - I am bored (to me its boring)

Age
The dative case is also used in Russian to express your age - I am 18 years old (to me there are 18 years) - I am 23 years old.

The preposition "" (towards/to)

In Russian the preposition "" means "towards/to". It is followed by the dative case. The dative case can also be used with the preposition "" (along). Although the use of this proposition is too varied, and has too many meanings, to create an exact rule. Some More Examples - I am walking towards the station. - We are going to our friends.

More Dative Case

A large number of Russian reflexive verbs also use the dative case, but more on this in a later lesson You can visit the dative case entry in the grammar section. You can also try and learn the possessive pronouns of the dative case.

Forming the Russian Instrumental Case Masculine Nouns:

1. All consonants, add . Except... 2. If the noun ends in unstressed , , , or , then add . (This is to comply with the spelling rules) 3. Replace , with , if stressed . 4. Replace , add , if stressed .

Feminine Nouns:
1. Replace with . Except... 2. If the stem of the noun ends in , , , or , replace with (This is to comply with the spelling rules) 3. Replace with , if stressed . 4. Replace with .

Neuter Nouns:
1. Add

Plurals
Look at the last letter nominative singular form (dictionary form) and... 1. All consonants, add "". 2. Replace "", "" with "". 3. Otherwise replace with ""

Examples
- (milk) - (sour cream) - (pencil) - (spoon) - (knife) - (husband) - (wife) - (Ivan) - (Anna) - (students)

Using the Intrumental Case: By means of

The instrumental case is used to express the concept of by means of. In English this is normally done using the words using or with. In English these words can have different meanings, so its important to recognise when they are meaning by means of.

Examples.
- Ivan writes with a pencil. - I eat soup with a spoon. - Oleg cuts the meat with a knife.

The preposition: - With, Accompanied by.

The preposition means with when used with the instrumental case. It expresses the concept of to be accompanied by or together with. is normally pronounced as though it is part of the next word.

For ease of pronunciation, when it is followed by two or more consonants, it is often written as . This way it can be pronounced as a word on its own rather than combined with the following word. Here are a couple of examples from lesson 4: , , - Please give me coffee with milk. , , - Please give me coffee with milk and sugar.

More examples: - I eat borsh with sour cream. - Ivan wants tea with milk. - Nadya wants tea with lemon. - I love pancakes with caviar

In Russian the preposition is also used to indicate when two people accompany each other. In English we would use the word and, but Russian generally uses (with). Have a look at the following Russian examples. . - Ivan and Anna are going to the cafe. . - Ivan and his wife are going to the cafe. . - Anna and Ivan are going to the cafe. . - Anna and her husband are going to the cafe.

Another interesting language point is how Russians say Ivan and I. It is said as (we, with Ivan). Here are some examples. - Ivan and I are going to school. - My husband and I are going to the cafe. - My wife and I are going to the cafe. - Me and you

Notes: 1. The Russian word for without is . However it is followed by the genitive case. 2. is the Russian word for 'together'. So means 'together with' and is followed by the instrumental case.

Pronouns - Instrumental Case

Here are the Russian pronouns in the instrumental case. Remember that these pronouns are very often follow the preposition . So they commonly have the meaning with me, with you, with him. It is a good idea to also practice saying them with the sound at the start. - Me - You - Him - Her

 - It - Us - You (plural) - Them

Seasons and parts of the day.

Changing a season to the instrumental case gives it the meaning of in. For example: - summer - in summer - autumn - in autumn - winter - in winter - spring - in spring

The same principal applies to parts of the day: - morning - in the morning - day, afternoon - in the afternoon - evening - in the evening - night - at night - In the evening I eat borsh with sour cream.

Other Prepositions and the Instrumental Case.

The instrumental case is also used after the following prepositions. Remember that some of these prepositions may have different meanings if they are followed by a different case.

 - behind, beyond, for - between - above - in front of - under Examples: - . - Behind this building there is a school. . - Between lunch and dinner drink tea. . - The lamp is above the table. . - In front of this school turn to the left. . - Under the table the cat is sitting.

Important Russian Expressions

Learn the following phrases for special events in Russia - Merry Christmas - Happy birthday - Happy new year

Advanced: Verbs that use the Instrumental Case.

The following verbs are used commonly used with the instrumental case. Most of these are reflexive verbs which we havent learnt yet. As this is a little bit advanced we wont give examples now, but it is something to keep in mind. You don't need to learn these verbs now. - to be, is, was - to be engaged in, to be occupied with - to be interested in - to turn out to be - to remain as - to use, enjoy / - to become - to be keen on - control, manage, govern - to seem, be The verb (to be, is, was) has no present tense. However when it is used in the past and future tense with nouns, the following noun is usually in the instrumental case. (Example: - I was a doctor). You will learn more about this in a later lesson.

Forming the Russian Instrumental Case

Masculine Nouns:
1. All consonants, add . Except... 2. If the noun ends in unstressed , , , or , then add . (This is to comply with the spelling rules) 3. Replace , with , if stressed . 4. Replace , add , if stressed .

Feminine Nouns:
1. Replace with . Except... 2. If the stem of the noun ends in , , , or , replace with (This is to comply with the spelling rules) 3. Replace with , if stressed . 4. Replace with .

Neuter Nouns:
1. Add

Plurals
Look at the last letter nominative singular form (dictionary form) and... 1. All consonants, add "". 2. Replace "", "" with "". 3. Otherwise replace with ""

Examples
- (milk) - (sour cream) - (pencil) - (spoon) - (knife) - (husband) - (wife) - (Ivan) - (Anna) - (students)

Using the Intrumental Case: By means of

The instrumental case is used to express the concept of by means of. In English this is normally done using the words using or with. In English these words can have different meanings, so its important to recognise when they are meaning by means of.

Examples.
- Ivan writes with a pencil. - I eat soup with a spoon. - Oleg cuts the meat with a knife.

The preposition: - With, Accompanied by.

The preposition means with when used with the instrumental case. It expresses the concept of to be accompanied by or together with. is normally pronounced as though it is part of the next word. For ease of pronunciation, when it is followed by two or more consonants, it is often written as . This way it can be pronounced as a word on its own rather than combined with the following word. Here are a couple of examples from lesson 4: , , - Please give me coffee with milk. , , - Please give me coffee with milk and sugar.

More examples: - I eat borsh with sour cream. - Ivan wants tea with milk. - Nadya wants tea with lemon. - I love pancakes with caviar

In Russian the preposition is also used to indicate when two people accompany each other. In English we would use the word and, but Russian generally uses (with). Have a look at the following Russian examples. . - Ivan and Anna are going to the cafe. . - Ivan and his wife are going to the cafe. . - Anna and Ivan are going to the cafe. . - Anna and her husband are going to the cafe.

Another interesting language point is how Russians say Ivan and I. It is said as (we, with Ivan). Here are some examples. - Ivan and I are going to school. - My husband and I are going to the cafe. - My wife and I are going to the cafe. - Me and you

Notes: 1. The Russian word for without is . However it is followed by the genitive case. 2. is the Russian word for 'together'. So means 'together with' and is followed by the instrumental case.

Pronouns - Instrumental Case

Here are the Russian pronouns in the instrumental case. Remember that these pronouns are very often follow the preposition . So they commonly have the meaning with me, with you, with him. It is a good idea to also practice saying them with the sound at the start. - Me - You - Him - Her - It - Us - You (plural) - Them

Seasons and parts of the day.

Changing a season to the instrumental case gives it the meaning of in. For example: - summer - in summer - autumn - in autumn - winter - in winter - spring - in spring

The same principal applies to parts of the day: - morning - in the morning - day, afternoon - in the afternoon - evening - in the evening - night - at night

 - In the evening I eat borsh with sour cream.

Other Prepositions and the Instrumental Case.

The instrumental case is also used after the following prepositions. Remember that some of these prepositions may have different meanings if they are followed by a different case. - behind, beyond, for - between - above - in front of - under Examples: - . - Behind this building there is a school. . - Between lunch and dinner drink tea. . - The lamp is above the table. . - In front of this school turn to the left. . - Under the table the cat is sitting.

Important Russian Expressions

Learn the following phrases for special events in Russia - Merry Christmas - Happy birthday - Happy new year

Advanced: Verbs that use the Instrumental Case.

The following verbs are used commonly used with the instrumental case. Most of these are reflexive verbs which we havent learnt yet. As this is a little bit advanced we wont give examples now, but it is something to keep in mind. You don't need to learn these verbs now. - to be, is, was - to be engaged in, to be occupied with - to be interested in - to turn out to be - to remain as - to use, enjoy / - to become - to be keen on - control, manage, govern - to seem, be The verb (to be, is, was) has no present tense. However when it is used in the past and future tense with nouns, the following noun is usually in the instrumental case. (Example: - I was a doctor). You will learn more about this in a later lesson.

Russian Past Tense

In Russian you will quite often wish to tell a story, or talk about something that has happened in the past. To do this we need to learn about the Russian past tense. Once you have completed this lesson you will be able to combine your knowledge of the case system to form simple Russian sentences and tell stories. Tenses in Russian differ considerably from English. In English there are quite a number of different past tenses, but in Russian there is simply one. Instead Russian uses the concept of aspects to indicate whether an action is completed or not. The same principal also applies in the future tense. Although this concept differs from English, it is conceptually quite easy. Let's have a look at the past tense now....

Forming Verbs in Past Tense.

In Russian the past tense is formed differently than present tense. You will recall that when we conjugated verbs in the present tense it depended on which person the subject was. (ie 1st, 2nd or 3rd person). In the past tense we look at the gender of the subject. You simply need to take the stem of the verb and add one of the following endings. Masculine: - Feminine: - Neuter: - Plural: - Let's try this with the verb (to know). Masculine: Feminine: Neuter: Plural: If you look at the following short sentences you will see that the verb relates to the gender of the subject. - He knew - She knew - It knew - They knew - We knew - I knew (male speaking) - I knew (female speaking) - You knew (speaking to a male) - You knew (speaking to a female) - Vladimir knew - Dima knew - Elena knew - Olga knew - The dog knew

You will notice that the verb endings match with the different forms of the pronoun . This should help you remember how to form the verbs. When using pronouns such as , , and it will depend on the gender of the actual person concerned.

Aspects in the past

In Russian there is a concept know as aspect, and it becomes important in the past and future tenses. Aspect indicate whether an action was successfully completed or not. Some tenses in English can indicate this, but it is not so exact as it is in Russian. There are two aspects in Russian, consequently each verb has two possible forms. The perfective and the imperfective aspect. Let's start by looking at what each aspect means. Imperfective Aspect: Incomplete, ongoing, habitual, reversed or repeated actions. Perfective Aspect: A single action that has been successfully completed.

The Imperfective Aspect.

The imperfective aspect is easy to use because all present tense verbs are imperfective. By definition something in the present tense is happening now, and is not complete, so there is no perfective in the present tense. Simply conjugate them as discussed above. The following phrases imply the action was unfinished. - I was working - I was going (by foot) . - She wants to buy a book. The following sentences are habitual or are repeated. - I worked everyday. . - I run in the forest every day. When expressing an action was undertaken for a length of time, use the imperfective also. - I worked for 2 hours. If you express the state of something you also use the imperfective - I was home.

The Perfective Aspect

Using the perfective aspect always implies the action was completed successfully and is not habitual in nature. There is no rule on how to form the perfective aspect. You just need to learn the perfective form of each verb. Sometimes the perfective is a different verb all together, but most commonly it is a prefixed form of the imperfective. (often -). Here are some examples of the perfective form of some common verbs.

Imperfective / Perfective / (run) / (see) / (talk/say) / (live) / (understand) / (work) / (sit) / (read) Now lets look at some examples. . - Yesterday we read an interesting article. - I bought a coffee - I went home. . - Sasha ate his lunch in 5 minuets. . - She asked the teacher

Aspects and the negative.

The use of the perfective in the negative implies the action failed. Whereas the imperfective implies the action never happened.

Imperfective:
. - She did not eat bananas. . - I did not live in England. . - We did not watch the movie yesterday. . - He did not want to see me.

Perfective:
- I failed to phone. (but I was expected to). , . - I did not understand what he said.

Questions and Aspects.

When you ask a question use the perfective if you specifically wish to to know if the action was completed successfully. If you are still unsure which to use, try converting you question to a statement and see which aspect fits.

Imperfective:
?. - What were you doing yesterday? ?. - Did they run here yesterday? ?. - Did you run yesterday morning?

Perfective:
? - Did you understand this movie? ? - Did you tell him about it?

Saying Was
You will remember that in the present tense the word is is simply omitted in Russian. This is not the case in the past tense. These examples come from the word (to be). - I was (man speaking) - I was (woman speaking) - He was - She was - It was - They were

Note the unsual stress patterns when used in the negative. The stress moves to the word '', except in the feminine. - I was not (man speaking). - I was not (woman speaking). - It was not. - They were not.

More examples
Here are some more examples of sentences in the past tense. Read through these to help you familiarise yourself with the past tense, and perhaps learn some new Russian words in the process. . - He read for three hours. , 16 - I finished school when I was 16 years old. . - At school I started learning English. . - Ive been to many countries. - Ive already visited Sweden. . - We rented a summer house for three months.