The russian cyrillic alphabet contains 33 letters, including 20 consonants, 10 vowels, one semi-vowels (й), a harg sign (ъ) and a soft sign (ь).
Cyrillic alphabet is used in various languages among Eurasia and is one of the most used script in the world, it is worth to learn as all cyrillic alphabets are very close to the russian one, so even if Bielorussia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, have their own cyrillic alphabets, you will understand them by knowing the russian one.
In russian, letters can be pronounced in various ways according to the position in the word, the stress, and some exceptions.
In russian, a stress on one syllable is used for every word ; it can change the prononciation of the vowel and of the word ; there is no rules to know where the stress has to be put, except that : the stress is obviously present when the word contain only one syllable ; when ё is present the stress has to be put on it.
Here stress will be indicate with underline, as in Спасибо ("thanks") that you can know that it is pronounced [spasiba].
А, а : stressed : pronounced as a in "hat" ; transcription : a
unstressed : pronounced as somewhere between o and a ; the sound being closer to a we will write it a in the transcriptions.
Э, э : stressed : pronounced as e in "ten" ; transcription : e
unstressed : no big difference ; same transcription.
Ы, ы : stressed : this sound doesn't exist in english, it is hard to explain but it is kind of situated between the french u ( or german ü ) and the i in "bit" ; transcription : y
unstressed : no big difference ; same transcription.
О, о : stressed : pronounced as o in "boy" ; transcription : o
unstressed : pronounced as somewhere between o and a ; the sound being closer to a we will write it a in the transcriptions.
У, у : stressed : pronounced as oo in "book" but shorter ; transcription : u
unstressed : no big difference ; same transcription.
Я, я : stressed : "iotated" variant of a, pronounced a bit like the german word for "yes" : "Ja" ; transcription : ja
unstressed : no big difference, but closer to e ; same transcription.
Е, е : stressed : "iotated" variant of э, pronounced a bit like the word "yes" ; transcription : je
unstressed : no big difference, but closer to я ; same transcription.
И, и : stressed : pronounced as ea in "cheap" ; transcription : i
unstressed : no big difference ; same transcription.
Ё, ё : stressed : "iotated" variant of о, pronounced a bit like "yo" ; transcription : jo
unstressed : Never appear unstressed.
Ю, ю : stressed : "iotated" variant of y, pronounced a bit like the word "you" ; transcription : ju
unstressed : no big difference ; same transcription.
Б, б : pronounced as b in "bet". ; transliteration : b
В, в : pronounced as v in "volt". ; transliteration : v
Г, г : pronounced as g in "grey". ( But pronounced v in possessive/genitive endings like его ); transliteration : g
Д, д : pronounced as d in "diamond". ; transliteration : d
Ж ,ж : pronounced as s in "pleasure" ; always hard. ; transliteration : zh
З, з : pronounced as z in _"zero_". ; transliteration : z
Й, й : semi-vowel pronounced as y in _"yes_". ; transliteration : j
К, к : pronounced as k in "kit". ; transliteration : k
Л, л : pronounced as l in "luck". ; transliteration : l
М, м : pronounced as m in "mother". ; transliteration : m
Н, н : pronounced as n in "none". ; transliteration : n
П, п : pronounced as p in "place". ; transliteration : p
Р, р : pronounced as the spanish r but less rolled ; transliteration : r
С, с : pronounced as s in "set". ; transliteration : s
Т, т : pronounced as t in "turtle". ; transliteration : t
Ф, ф : pronounced as f in "farm". ; transliteration : f
Х, х : pronounced as the scottish ch in "Loch", or the german ch in "Bach" ; transliteration : kh
Ц, ц : pronounced as ts in "pits" ; always hard ; transliteration : ts
Ч, ч : pronounced as ch in "church" always soft ; transliteration : ch
Ш, ш : pronounced as sh in "shirt" always hard ; transliteration : sh
Щ, щ : pronounced as ш and ч following each other. ; transliteration : shch
ъ : hard sign ( твёрдый знак )
ь : soft sign ( мягкий знак )
Here is a table to remember for numbers in Russian :
... | ... | 10 + .. | ...0 | ...00 | ..000 | ..000 000 | ..000 000 000 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
0 | ноль [nolj] | десять [desjatj] | tens | hundreds | thousands | millions | billions |
1 | один [adin] | одиннадцать [adin-na-dsatj] | десять [desjatj] | сто [sto] | один тысяча [adin tysjacha] | один миллион [adin milion] | один миллиард [adin miliard] |
2 | два [dva] | двенадцать [dvje-na-dsatj] | двадцать [dva-dsatj] | двести [dvjesti] | две тысячи [dvje tysjachi] | две миллион [dvje milion] | две миллиард [dvje miliard] |
3 | три [tri] | тринадцать [tri-na-dsatj] | тридцать [tri-dsatj] | триста [trista] | три тысячи [tri tysjachi] | три миллион [tri milion] | три миллиард [tri miliard] |
4 | четыре [chityrje] | четырнадцать [chityr-na-dsatj] | сорок [sorok] | четырехсот [chjetyrekhsat] | ... | ... | ... |
5 | пять [pjatj] | пятнадцать [pjat-na-dsatj] | пятьдесят [pjatj-desjat] | пятисот [pjatisat] | |||
6 | шесть [shjestj] | шестнадцать [shjest-na-dsatj] | шестьдесят [shjestj-desjat] | ... | |||
7 | семь [sjemj] | семнадцать [sjem-na-dsatj] | семьдесят [sjemj-desjat] | ||||
8 | восемь [vosjemj] | восемнадцать [vosjem-na-dsatj] | восемьдесят [vosjemj-desjat] | ||||
9 | девять [divjatj] | девятнадцать [devjat-na-dsatj] | девяносто [devja-nasto] |
Then you just have to add numbers one after another, example : 2.748.169.513 : две миллиард, семьсот сорок восемь, сто шестьдесят девять, пятисот тринадцать [ dvje miliard, sjemjsat sorok vosjemj, sto shjestjdjesjatj, pjatisat trinadtsatj]
As you can see, from 11 to 19, number are formed with numbers from 1 to 9 adding -надцать at the end.
Ordinals are very similar to adjectives and possess the same form, they also decline in gender, to form an ordinal ( in masculine ), just add -ый [yj] or -ий [ij] at the end of the number, there are some exceptions but the main are first-> первый [pjervyj], second -> второй [vtoroj] and third -> третий [trjetij].
Example : это мой первый раз в Росся [eta moj pjervyj raz v Moskva] -> It is my first time in Moscow
For halfs, you can use половина [palavina] after the number to express the superior half : один с половина [adin s palavina] -> one and half ;
There are two kind of sentences in Russian : the verbal sentences that express an action with a verb, and the nominal sentences that express statement or quality ( like the use of the verb "to be" in English )
There are three grammatical genders in russian : masculine, feminine and neutral, each noun has one of those three genders and adjectives and pronouns are declined according to those genders ;
For most of the noun, you can predict which gender it belongs according to the endings, but there are exceptions.
There are no articles in russian, a dog or the dog are expressed the same way.
The negation in russian is simply expressed with не [nje] in front of a verb, or with нет [njet] to answer to a question.
говорите по-русски ? [gavaritje pa-ruski ?] : do you speak russian ?
нет, я не говорю по-русски [njet, ja nje gavarju pa-ruski] : No, I don't speak russian
As in German or in many slavic languages, there are different cases in Russian, according to which the nouns and adjectives will be inflected.
To give an exemple, it it like if in english by saying I go to my car, my car is red, or I go with my car, you would put in each case a different ending to the word car. Then the preceding examples would respectively be : я иду к моей машине [ja idu k majej mashinje], моя машина красная [maja mashina krasnaja], and я еду с моей машиной [ja jedu s majej mashinoj].
There are 6 cases in Russian : nominative, accusative, dative, genitive, instrumental and prepositional. Nominative is the basic form and that's the form you will learn in dictionnaries.
But this part won't be approach in the basic grammar, if it is an important feature of Russian and also part of what makes it difficult to learn, you won't need if you just want to be understood.
Here is a table for personal pronouns ( I, you, he, she, etc... ), as well the accusative/genitive pronouns (me, you, him, us) :
nom | Acc/gen | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | 1st | я [ja] | меня [minja] | |
2nd | ты [ty] | тебя [tibja] | ||
3rd | Masc. | он [on] | его [jevo] | |
Fem. | она [ana] | её [jejo] | ||
Neu. | оно [ano] | его [jevo] | ||
Plural | 1st. | мы [my] | нас [nas] | |
2nd* | вы [my] | вас [vas] | ||
3rd | они [ani] | их [ikh] |
And here are the possessive pronouns (my, your, his, her, etc...), possessive pronouns are declined according to the object.
person | Masc. | Fem. | Neu. | plural | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sing. | 1st | мой [moj] | моя [maja] | моё [majo] | мои [maji] |
2nd | твой [tvoj] | твоя [tvaja] | твоё [tvajo] | твои [tvaji] | |
3rd(m,n) | его [jevo] | ||||
3rd(f) | её [jejo] | ||||
Plu. | 1st | наш [nash] | наша [nasha] | наше [nashje] | наши [nashi] |
2nd | ваш [vash] | ваша [vasha] | ваше [vashje] | ваши [vashi] | |
3rd | их [ikh] |
By example : - её стол [jejo stol] ( "её" because the owner is woman ) means her table
- твоя сестра [tvaja sjestra] ( "твоя" because сестра is feminine ) means your sister
The equivalents of this and that are respectively это [eta] and то [to]. As there is no verb to be, in Russian, it can be also be translated as this is / it is.
Example : это мой брат [eta moj brat] -> it is my brother ; эта мая машина [eta maja mashina] -> this is my car
But when the demonstrative is followed by a noun, like in "I want this apple", then the demonstrative is declined according to gender and plurality, here is a table for the different demonstratives :
Masc. | Fem. | Neu. | Plu. | |
---|---|---|---|---|
это | этот [etat] | эта [eta] | это [eto] | эти [eti] |
то | тот [tot] | та [ta] | то [to] | те [tje] |
Examples :
One of the most important things to learn in any language are the interrogative pronouns, how to say who, what, where, etc... :
These are the main conjonctions in russian, there are used in the same way than in english, but can be slightly different :
These are the main prepositions in french, there are used in the same way than in english :
Есть [jestj] is an important word in Russian, literally it means "there is", and it is also used to express "to have" ; It's contrary is нет.
Its future form is будет [budjet] and the past form is было [bylo], these are actually present, future and past form of быть [bytj] that is the equivalent of to be in Russian.
Example of use :
Let see the differents endings of the differents genders, how to recognize them and how to form plural :
Masculine :
Feminine :
Neutral :
Plural :
Adjectives are declined according to the gender and number of the noun. The dictionnaries forms are usually the masculine form, then you have to decline them.
The masculine endings are -ый, -ой, -ий
The feminine ending is -ая
The neutral ending is -oe ( and sometimes -ee )
The plural ending is -ие after г, к, х, ч, ш, щ, ж and -ые after other consonants.
Adverbs :
Adverbs are used after a verb, to express the quality of an action and not of someone or something, by example :
adverbs are formed from adjective by replacing the ending with -o, let's translate the two examples above :
Comparative :
To form comparative in Russian, you generally take the stem of the adjective and add -ee :
красивый [krasivyj] ( beautiful ) -> красивее [krasiveye] ( more beautiful )
But there are exceptions and all of the comparatives are not formed that way.
One notable is хороший [kharashij] ( good ) -> лучше [luchshje] ( better )
To make things easier, you can use the following words :
So by example : Санкт-Петербург более красивый, чем Москва [Sankt-Pjeterburg boleje krasivyj chjem Moskva] : St-Petersbourg is more beautiful than Moscow
The word больше [boljshje] is the comparative form of big ( bigger ) and it is also used to express more when you speak about quantities, when you want to say by example, I want more water. ( я хочу больше вода* [ja khachu boljshje vada] )
*(here вода should be воды because it is genitive, but we will ignore it for now )
Superlative :
Superlative is form with the adjective самый ( the most ) that you will decline as an adjective :
самая красивая женщина [samaja krasivaja zhjenshchina] : the most beautiful women
As we saw earlier, the used of "to be" in Russian is very different than in English ; in most of sentences, to be is simply express by the absence of verb, the object is directly following the subject : я устал [ja ustal] -> I am tired ( lit: "I tired")
But still there is a verb to be that is used for other purposed : бить [bytj, it is mainly used in his past form был and his present form that will be used to form the future : будет, let's see how to conjugate them :
я | буду |
ты | будешь |
он, она, они | будет |
мы | будем |
вы | будете |
они | будут |
masculine | был |
feminine | была |
neutral | было |
plural | были |
To have is also very different in Russian, it is not a proper verb ; you use the form y + genitive + есть (or нет for negative) ( subject or pronoun ), you need to refer to the table with the genetive pronoun above. Here are some example :
By replacing есть by his past ( был ) or future ( будет ) form, you can express to have in past or future tense.
Here is a notion that is hard to get for non-slavic speakers ; each verb in Russian possess two forms, a perfective and imperfective form.
Imperfective is used :
Perfective is used :
Let's take an example with the Imperfective/perfective couple : писать/написать
imperfective :
Perfective :
Perfective are usually formed from Imperfective verbs by :
We'll always write from know the couple of verbs following the order imperfective/perfective.
The present tense is used to express a processing action or an usual action for imperfective verbs, for perfective verb it express a future action that will be completed. Verbs are divided in two groups according which you will conjugate it. Verbs ending with -ать are from the first group, others are from the second :
... | ending | example работать | [rabotatj] ( to work ) |
---|---|---|---|
я | -аю [aju] | работаю | |
ты | -аешь [ajeshj] | работаешь | |
он,она,оно | -ает [ajet] | работает | |
мы | -аем [ajem] | работаем | |
вы | -аете [ajetje] | работаете | |
они | -ают [ajut] | работают |
2nd group
... | ending | example смотреть | [smatrjetj] ( to watch ) |
---|---|---|---|
я | -ю [ju]* | смотрю | |
ты | -ишь [ajeshj] | смотришь | |
он,она,оно | -ит [ajet] | смотрит | |
мы | -им [ajem] | смотрим | |
вы | -ите [ajetje] | смотрите | |
они | -ят [ajut]* | смотрят |
* ю and я respectively become у and а after the following : г, к, х, ч, ш, щ, ж
The past tense in Russian is used to express a action that was in process for imperfective verbs, with perfective verbs it express an action that was completed. It is quite easy to form, you just have to remove the ending from the infinitive and add endings that are just related to the gender of the subject :
gender | ending | example знать [znatj] (to know) |
---|---|---|
masculine | -л | знал |
feminine | -ла | знала |
neutral | -ло | знало |
plural | -ли | знали |
Only used with imperfective verbs, it is used to express an action that will be keeping in process, or something that has no end. It is easy formed by using the present tense of быть ( to be ) followed by the infinitive of the verb :
Verbs of motion are a bit different from others in Russian : they go by pair unidirectional/multidirectional, while the first is used to express a punctual action, going somewhere in one direction, the second is used to express a repeated or regular action. By example the couple идти/ходить [idti/khoditj] ( to go by foot )
Here the conjugaison of some of the main verbs of motion :
english : | to go ( by walk ) | to go ( by wheel transportation ) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
... | unidirectional | multidirectional | unidirectional | multidirectional |
Russian : | идти [idti] | ходить [khoditj] | ехать [jekhatj] | ездить [jezditj] |
Present | ||||
я | иду [idu] | хожу [khozhu] | еду [jedu] | езжу [jezzhu] |
ты | идёшь [idjoshj] | ходишь [khodishj] | едешь [jedjeshj] | ездишь [jezdishj] |
он/она/оно | идёт [idjot] | ходит [khodit] | едет [jedjet] | ездит [jezdit] |
мы | идём [idjom] | ходим [khodim] | едем [jedjem] | ездим [jezdim] |
вы | идёте [idjotje] | ходите [khoditje] | едете [jedetje] | ездите [jezditje] |
они | идут [idut] | ходят [khodjat] | едут [jedut] | ездят [jezdjat] |
Past | ||||
masculine | шёл [shjol] | ходил [khodil] | ехал [jekhal] | ездил [jezdil] |
feminine | шла [shla] | ходила [khodila] | ехала [jekhala] | ездила [jezdila] |
neutral | шло [shlo] | ходило [khodilo] | ехало [jekhalo] | ездило [jezdilo] |
plural | шли [shli] | ходили [khodili] | ехали [jekhali] | ездили [jezdili] |