Noun

Gender Of Nouns

Nouns in the Russian language are divided into three groups according to the grammatical gender – masculine, feminine and neuter. Usually it is possible to tell the gender of the word by its end.

Nouns of the masculine gender usually end in:

a consonant		паспорт, журнал, компьютер
-Й		музей
the soft sign -Ь		словарь

Nouns of the feminine gender usually end in:

-А		страна, газета, виза
-Я		фамилия
the soft sign -Ь		площадь

Nouns of the neuter gender usually end in:

-O		письмо, яблоко
-E		море, кафе

MASCULINE ОН	FEMININE ОНА	NEUTER ОНО
паспорт журнал компьютер музей словарь	страна газета виза фамилия площадь	письмо яблоко море кафе

Number Of Nouns

Это студент.	Это студенты.
Это газета.	Это газеты.

The plural of the nouns in the Russian language is formed in the following way:

• - to the masculine nouns in the singular the endings -Ы or -И are added
  • -Ы, -И:
    • документ – документы
    • журнал – журналы
• he endings of the feminine nouns change
  • -А is replaced by -Ы
    • виза – визы
    • газета – газеты
  • -Я is replaced by -И
    • фамилия – фамилии
• - the endings of the neuter nouns change
  • -А
    • письмо – письма
  • - Е is replaced by-Я
    • море – моря

The word ЯБЛОКО (an apple) is an exception, the plural form of it is ЯБЛОКИ!

Remember! The words ДЕНЬГИ, ОЧКИ have only plural forms.

Personal Pronouns

The pronouns ОН, ОНА can denote either animate or inanimate objects. The pronoun ОНО always denotes inanimate objects.

The pronoun ВЫ is not only a plural form. It is also used as a polite form to address a stranger or an elder person.

JOBS. Feminine nouns derivation

Feminine nouns denoting jobs can be derived from masculine nouns with the help of the suffix -К-. And of course the noun takes a feminine ending then. For example:

Это студент.	Это студенка.

For example: 

      Он студент. – Она студентка.

      Он журналист. – Она журналистка. 

But there is a group of nouns denoting jobs which don’t change the form according to the biological sex of the person. For example: 

     Он менеджер. – Она менеджер.

     Он инженер. – Она инженер.

     Он доктор. – Она доктор.

     Он музыкант. – Она музыкант. 
 

Negative Sentences

To make a negative answer to a qwestion you have to use TWO negative words – НЕТ (no) and НЕ (not). First you have to say НЕТ, and then use НЕ right before the required word.

For example: ЭТО КЛЮЧ? НЕТ, ЭТО НЕ КЛЮЧ.

• БАГАЖ ТУТ? НЕТ, БАГАЖ НЕ ТУТ.
• ВЫ СТУДЕНТ? НЕТ, Я НЕ СТУДЕНТ.
• ОНА МЕНЕДЖЕР? НЕТ, ОНА НЕ МЕНЕДЖЕР.

Attention!

Intonation plays a big role in the question and in the answer. In the question you must emphasize the most important word - the voice goes up.

In the answer the negative particle не and the following word are pronounced together as one word. Не is usually not stressed.

• «не тут» - [ нитут]
• «не она» - [ ниана]

According to the meaning of the question не can be placed before:

The noun:

Это стол? - Нет, не стол.

an Adverb:

Дом там? - Нет, не там.

The verb:

Ты знаешь? - Нет, не знаю.

an Adjective:

Дом большой? – Нет, не большой.

Pronouns

1. Posessive pronouns
2. Prepositions его, её, их don't change. You should choose the pronoun according to the gender of the person to which the thing belongs.
   • Это Антон. Он здесь. Это его билет, его виза, его фото, его деньги.
   • Это Анна. Она там. Это её билет, её виза, её фото, её деньги.
   • Это Антон и Анна. Это они. Это их журнал, их виза, их фото, их деньги.
3. To ask a question so that to learn who the thing belongs to - you should choose the words чей? чья? чьё? чьи? (whose?). The choice depends on the gender and the number of the corresponding noun.
   • Это Мария. Это билет. Это её билет. Чей это билет? (the noun «билет» is masculine, so you need the question word ЧЕЙ? ).
   • Это Джон. Это виза. Это его виза. Чья это виза? (the noun «виза» is feminine, so you need the question word ЧЬЯ? ).
   • Это Антон. Это яблоко. Это его яблоко. Чьё это яблоко? (the noun «яблоко» is neuter, so you need the question word ЧЬЁ? ).
   • Это Анна и Джон. Это деньги. Это их деньги. Чьи это деньги? (the noun «деньги» is plural, so you need the question word ЧЬИ? ).

Nouns denoting nationality

There are special words in Russian to denote natinality - faminine and masculine ones. When you need to say about several peole of the same natinality we use in Russian special plural form.

Посмотрите на таблицу: существительные мужского рода, как правило, образуются с помощью суффиксов -ец (канадец), -ан+-ец (американец), реже с помощью суффикса  анин (англичанин). Некоторые существительные мужского рода имеют особые формы: француз, турок, грек. Исключением является и форма русский (русская, русские). Русский – это форма прилагательного, а не существительного.

Feminine nouns end in -ка (канадка), -анка (американка) или -янка (китаянка), exception француженка.

Plural froms are formed acording to the rule of formation Plural.

If masculine singular noun ends in а -ец (канадец) or -анец (американец), the plural form ends in -цы (канадцы) или -анцы (американцы). The same rule concerns special nouns like француз, грек. plural forms - французы, греки. Pay attention to the forms турок – турки. –анин: , –ане: англичанин – англичане.

As you can see there are many ways in Russian to form the words denoting natinality. You are reccomended to learn by memory exceptional forms and keep in mind that words denoting nationality are nouns but not adjectives in Russian.

ADVERBS

When we want to give a characteristic to an action, or to describe a state of something, we use adverbs. Adverb is a part of speech un the Russian language, which never changes it’s form.

When we speak about where something takes place, we use adverbs of place. They answer the question где? (where?).

• Номер справа.
• Лифт там, слева.
• Ресторан внизу.

If we want to say when something takes place, we use adverbs of time which answer the question когда? (when?).

• Завтрак утром, обед днём, ужин вечером.

When we want to describe the quality of an action or sate, we use adverbs which answe the question как? (how?). These are adverbs of manner.

• Летом жарко,зимой холодно.
• Это хорошо.
• В ресторане очень дорого.

Adverbs are mostly used with verbs denoting state or actions, with adjectives, and with other adverbs. Adverbs are put before these words and they denote intensity of a state, action intensity degree, or a degree of a quality.

You can also find adverbs in sentences with the word ЭТО (it, this).

• Сериал – это скучно!
• Детектив – это интересно.

When we want describe the state of the world and nature around us, we use impersonal sentences (those which don’t include an active subject in the Nominative case) with adverbs. These sentences usually contain words indicating time or location. Usually the information about where and when something takes place is located at the beginning of the sentence, and the information about the quality of an action or state (как?) is at the end of the sentence.

It is a peculiarity of the Russian language as compared to other European languages that in the sentences of this type there is no link-verb быть (to be) in the Present Tense. (But in the Past and Future Tenses the verb быть necessarily occurs in its past or future form.

• Сегодня жарко.
• Вчера было жарко.
• Завтра тоже будет жарко.

Remember! The most important (new) information is placed at the end of the sentence.

• Завтрак утром (не днём и не вечером).
• Утром завтрак (не обед и не ужин).

Nouns In Plural: Part 2

Masculine nound end in -г, -к, -х, -ж, -ш, -ч, -щ, and feminine nouns end in -га, -ка, -ха, -жа, -ша, -ча, -ща form plural with letter "и";

Memorize some special forms of Plural.

There are some nouns in Russian end in "o' or 'ю"in Nominative. They came to The Russian language from other languages and do not change their form, such words as : такси = такси, метро = метро, пальто = пальто, интервью.

There are some nouns in Russian which have only Plural form: джинсы, деньги, очки, часы.

Remember! Here you see the exceptions.

Masculin gender:	Feminine gender:	Neuter gender:

The Interrogative word: Какой? Какая? Какое? (what? which?)

When we ask about quality of the object or the person we use in Russian special questions with the words какой? какая? какое? какие? The choose of the special words depends on the form of the determinated noun: if you deel with masculan noun you should take the word какой, if faminine - какая , if neuter - какое, if plural - какие.

Какой это человек? (noun "человек" is masculan so you see the word "какой"?)

Какая это рыба? (noun "рыба" is feminine so you see the word "какая?")

Какое это пиво? (noun "пиво" is neuter so you see thу word "какое")

Какие это дети? (noun "дети" is plural so you see the word "какие")

In the replies to these questions one should use adjectives which agree with the next nouns in gender and numeral.

Это вкусная рыба.

We use these questions with the words "какой? какая? какое? какие?" when we ask about the name of the object. Compare:

—Какое это пиво?

—Это холодное пиво.

—Это пиво «Балтика».

CASES in Russian

In the Russian language nouns change their form in the sentences. The form of the noun depends on the role it plays in the sentence. These forms are called cases. Russian nouns have 6 cases and every case has its own meanings and functions in the sentence, its own endings, and particular questions for animate and inanimate nouns.

There are 6 cases in the Russian language:

The Nominative Case denotes an active subject. Usually a noun in the Nominative case is a grammatical subject in the sentence (sometimes – a predicate), and it answers the questions КТО? (Who?), ЧТО? (What?). You usually see the Nominative case of a noun in a dictionary.

Prepositional Case

When you ask about the location of a person or an object (i.e. give an answer to the question "where") you should use the noun in the Prepositional case.

Before the Nouns in Prepositional you should use prepositions "в" in or "на" on. If the object is inside -take the preposition "в": шарф в сумке, телефон в столе, фото в книге; , if it's on the surface - take "на"

Книги на полке.

Цветы в вазе.

Preposition В (in)

• f the person is indoors, in a building, the preposition в is usually used Антон в комнате. – Anton is in the room. Иван в ресторане. – Ivan is in the restaurant. Exceptions: на почте – at the post office на стадионе – at the stadium на факультете – at the faculty на фабрике – at the factory
• If we speak about a country or a city, the preposition в is also used: Антон в Америке. – Anton is in America. Иван в Петербурге. – Ivan is in Petersburg.
• The words парк (park), сад (garden), лес (forest) are also used with the preposition в: Мы в парке. – We are in the park.Она в лесу. – She is in the forest.

preposition to

• If you come to the place to take part in some event or to watch some performance you should use the preposition " на" (at): Антон на уроке. Иван на дискотеке.
• Before the words "улица, бульвар, проспект, площадь " ( street, boulevard, prospect, square) you should use the preposition "на"

Endings of the nouns in the Prepositional case.

1. Masculine nouns end in Nominative case in consonant add in Prepositional case ending "е".

парк – в парке, магазин – в магазине.

Masculine nouns end in Nominative case in "ь" or "й" change them also in Prepositional case to the ending "е".

музей – в музее, словарь – в словаре.

Feminine nouns end in Nominative case in "a"я" change them also in Prepositional case to the ending "е".

Москва – в Москве, песня – в песне.

2. Neuter nouns end in Nominative case in "o" change it also in Prepositional case to the ending "е".

письмо – в письме

Neuter nouns end in Nominative case in "e" do not change it in Prepositional case ".

поле – в поле, море – на море.

3. Feminine nouns end in Nominative case in "ь" change it in Prepositional case to the ending "и".

– в тетради. (pay attaention: masculine nouns end in Nomunative in "ь" change it into "e": : словарь – в словаре).

4. Feminine nouns end in 'ия" in Nomunative change it into "ии" in Prepositional:

Россия – в России, здание – в здании.

There is a special group of nouns in Russian which has an ending "y" in prepositional case. Memorize them!

The Verbs

All verbs in Russian change their endings and numeral. There are 2 types of Conjugation. The Infinitive form of the Verb ( endings -ть, -ти, -чь) is always constant.You can see this form in the dictionary. The ,verb in a sentence changes, it's form depends on the form (numeral and person) of the subject ( я, ты, он, она, оно (singular), мы, вы, они (plural).

Я знаю. Они знают. Вы знаете.

Pay attention, that there is one 3d personal singular verbal form for animate and inanimate nouns of different genders:Антон работает. Магазин работает. Анна работает. Школа работает. Радио не работает. . The same rule concerns plural verbal form:Антон и Анна работают. Магазины работают.

The personal verbal endings depend on 1 or 2 type of Conjugation. Ususally verbs with infinitive endings -ить (любить, звонить belong to 2 type of Conjugation. All the other verbs belong to 1 type of Conjugation. There are also a lot of exceptiion in Conjugations!

1st type of Conjugation

To form 1 type of Conjugation in Present you should

• drop infinitive ending (last 2 letters: -ить (любить, звонить
•  
• and then add to the rest part (зна-, дела-, работа-) correct personal ending. Before the vowells you see letter "ю" (работа -ю, работа- ют) before consonants - "у" (мог-у. мог-ут).

II type of Conjugation

Personal forms of the 2d type of Conjugation form the same way. There are only special endings of 2 Conjugation:

Pay attention: after letters "ч' and "ж' you should write "y" and "a": я пишу, я учу, они пишут, они учат.

The verb "to want' хотеть is an exception, it's form you should memorize!

Demonstrative pronouns

When you need to choose one object from others you should use the demonstrative pronoun "this, these" (этот. эта, это. эти). There are 4 forns of demonstrative pronouns in Russian;with masculine nouns the form "этот": этот дом,with famonine nouns the form "эта": эта комната.with neuter nouns the form "это": это окно,with plural form "эти": эти часы.The demonstrative pronouns you should use when answer to the questions with the word Какой?

• – Какой телевизор недорогой и хороший?
• – Этот. // Этот телевизор.
•  
• – Какая комната очень удобная?
• – Эта комната.
•  
• – Какое кино очень интересное?
• – Это американское кино.
•  
• – Какие вещи твои?
• – Эти вещи мои.

When you answer to the question Что это? What is it? you start your reply from the pronoun "это". This pronoun you should use before all types of nouns!

• Это мой дом.
• Это наша удобная квартира.
• Это наше окно.
• Это твои вещи?

Construction with the pronoun "это" is a complete sentence: Это дом.Это ваза.Это окно.Это часы. (The sentences are very short, because in Russian the verb "to be" is not used in the Present Tense) Compare:

Pay attention to the order of the words in these sentences.