Russian course
Basic Russian for beginners
Lesson 10:
Review of lessons 6 - 9
In this lesson you will learn:
- the most important points from lessons 6 to 9
- the case you already know: the nominative
Useful phrase in Russian
Listen and repeat the sentences you have learnt in the last 4 lessons:
Lesson 6
Lesson 7
Lesson 8
Lesson 9
Russian vocabulary
Read, listen and repeat the basic vocabulary of this lesson:
Wh-questions in Russian
In English the wh-questions are those questions that start with questions words like what, when, how, who, which, where or why. In this course you have already learnt all of them. Here they are:
English
Russian
Pronunciation
What?
Что?
shto?
Who?
Кто?
kto?
How?
Как?
kak?
When?
Когда́?
kag-dá?
Where?
Где?
gdye?
Why?
Почему́?
pa-chye-mú?
Russian vocabulary
Read, listen and repeat the basic vocabulary of this lesson:
Relatives
In lesson 8 you have learnt how to say the name of different relatives in Russian. Let's see some more:
English
Russian
Pronunciation
grandfather
де́душка
dyé-dush-ka
grandmother
ба́бушка
bá-bush-ka
father / mother
оте́ц / мать
a-tyéts / mat'
parents
роди́тели
ra-dí-tye-li
son / daughter
сын / дочь
syn / doch
brother / sister
брат / сестра́
brat / syes-trá
uncle / aunt
дя́дя / тётя
dyá-dya / tyó-tya
cousin (male)
двою́родный брат
dva-yú-rad-nyj brat
cousin (female)
двою́родная сестра́
dva-yú-rad-na-ya syes-trá
nephew
племя́нник
plye-myá-nnik
niece
племя́нница
plye-myá-nni-tsa
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Russian grammar
Read the following grammar explanations for this lesson:
How to form the past tense
irst, you remove "ть" from the verb (for example ду́мать / ду́ма-). Second, you add:
- -л for masculine singular (ду́мал)
- -ла for feminine singular (ду́мала)
- -ло for neuter singular (ду́мало)
- -ли for every form of plural (ду́мали) y and for formal forms (both in singular and plural).
How to build reflexive verbs
We build a reflexive verb adding either сь or ся.
- We use сь when the verb ends in vowel.
- We use ся when the verb does not end in vowel.
Possessive pronouns in Russian
In lesson 8 we have seen a complete explanation about them. Here they are:
Singular
мой / моя́ / моё
твой / твоя́ / твоё
его́
её
наш / на́ша / на́ше
ваш / ва́ша / ва́ше
их
Plural
мои́
твои́
его́
её
на́ши
ва́ши
их
English
my
your
his
her
our
your
their
The Russian cases
We have learnt that Russian is a language where some words are "declined" (or transformed).
In English, the pronouns undergo transformations to mark different functions in a sentence:
- Subject: he (he is my friend)
- Object: him (I asked him something)
In Russian these declensions are more common. They are sorted in "grammatical cases":
- Nominative
- Genitive
- Dative
- Accusative
- Instrumental
- Prepositional
The nominative case
The case represent the "normal" word, without transformations, as in appears in a dictionary.
A noun, pronoun or adjective in the nominative case mark the subject in a sentence. It is the noun that "is doing" what the verb says.
Examples (the nominative is different colour):
- Мой брат идёт в кино́
- My brother goes to the cinema
- Э́то моя́ кни́га
- This is my book
- Мне нра́вятся хоро́шие фи́льмы
- I like good movies
Let's learn the cases
WHAT IS A CASE? In English we change a word to express "singular" or "plural" (car/cars, foot/feet). In Russian words can be changed to express other concepts (subject, direct object, possession,...). Those changes are called "cases".
Do cases exist in english? Yes, but they are rare and are not called "cases". For example, the pronoun "he" changes into "him" in sentences like "I saw him" (in this example "him" is in the accusative case).
Why do cases exist? Each language evolves differently. In English there are articles (a/an, the), but not in Russian. In Russian there are cases, but not in English.
We have created a course to help you understand Russian cases. Here you can go to lesson 1
