Russian III Tutorial

written by Stephen VanZuylen

39. Prepositions in the Accusative

Prepositions are words or particles used to express ideas such as location, destination, origin, and a number of other qualities. There are a number of prepositions for each case, and when applied to a noun, it, and all adjectives, pronouns and the like must take the case ascribed to the preposition itself. I've tried to list as many as possible, particularly those I have found to be most common, but a number are not included, and some purposely left out. Pronunctiation is also important, as monosyllabic prepositions meld into the word that follows them rather than being pronounced separately; в Америке is vah-myer'-ee-kyeh, and not vuh ah-myer'-ee-kyeh. And finally, before a number of consonant clusters, single consonant prepositions add an o, as in во вторнк ("on Tuesday") and the preposition o takes a б before vowels, as in об авторе ("about the author"). For the preposition o, there is also a special form, обо when used with the pronoun мне.

О(б) -- Against (Contact)
Про -- About
Сквозь -- Through
Через -- through, across, after x amount of time

40. Prepositions in the Prepositional Case

О(б) -- About (Same as the accusative про)
При -- Near/close to/on one's person/in the time of*

*There are a number of additional meanings for при; check your dictionary for proper contexts.

41. Prepositions in the Dative Case

Благодаря -- Thanks to
Вопреки -- Despite/in spite of
Наперекор -- Contrary to/
Согласно -- In accordance with, according to
Судя по -- Judging by

42. Prepositions in the Instrumental Case

За -- beyond, behind
Между -- Between
Над -- Over, above
Перед -- In front of
Под -- Under

43. Prepositions in the Genitive Case

Близ -- Close to
Без -- Without
Вместо -- Instead of
Вне -- Outside of
Внутри -- Inside of
Вокруг -- Around (usually a circular area)
Для -- for (use by, for the benefit of)
До -- up to, until
Мимо -- By, past
Около -- Near, around, approximately
Помимо -- Besides, other than
После -- After (event, day, etc.)
Против -- against, in opposition to

44. Prepositions of Motion and Location

    While most prepositions are fairly straightforward in their usage, the prepositions which indicate location, destination, or point of origin are more difficult to fully understand, especially for those new to language learning. Each preposition is given individual treatment here, and grouped according to which nouns/pronouns they modify. A summary table is available at the bottom of ths section. Also note that certain verbs may mandate specific prepositions, which may or may not conform to the logic normally applied.

В/В/Из

    В-(accusative) and В-(prepositional) refer to the motion into a closed space, and the location in it, respectively. As such it is used with nouns such as школа (elementary school), общежитие (dormitory), квартира (appartment), здание (building), and so on.

    For instance, if I wanted to to say in Russian "Masha is going to the store," it would be "Маша идёт в магазин," that is, using the accusative case; while we may not always say "into the store" in regular English speech, the implication is that Masha goes into the building. Likewise, if I were to say "Masha is at the store right now," it would be "Маша сейчас в магазине," the implicaton here being that she is inside the building, and not simply at it. If, however, you wished to say that she did not/is not going into/inside the store, but is going to an area near it, then you would use к/у/от, explained further down.

    Из-(genitive) refers to the same instances above, only the movement out of -that is, exiting- the place in question. Из can also mean "of" in the sense of "one of them" (один из них) or "of/from" in the sense of "made of chocolate" or "made with chocolate" (сделано из шоколада.)

На/На/С

    На-(accusative) and На-(prepositional) work in similar ways to в, but are somewhat harder to learn to use properly. The simplest usage is in the context of being "on" something, such as на столе, ("on the table;") that is resting on top of something. While "on" is a good equivalent, you have to be careful how you apply it; на телевизоре ("on television") wouldn't refer to a program on the TV screen, but rather to an object sitting on top of the TV set. The other major use is to indicate motion towards or location at an event or an activity, such as на концерте ("at the concert") or на занятии (at exercise(s)/class.) And finally there are some words that require the use of На/На/С as a matter of course such as на стадион, ("to the stadium,") не рынке, ("in the market,") or на кухне, ("in the kitchen.") As with most irregulars, you just have to remember them.

    С-(gentive) is like из, referring to the going from something, only it works in the situations described for на.

К/У/От

    К-(dative) There are generally two situations where this set of prepositions is used; first is situations where in English you would say say a person is "at x's house," going "to x's place" or is "with so-and-so" However, in Russian it is standard to simply say к/у/от plus the person's name in the correct case. Thus I would say "Иду к Александру сегодня днём," (I'm going to Alexander's this afternoon,) "Я был вчера у Марины," (I was at Marina's yesterday,) or "Андрей придёт (к нами) от Лены," (Andrei is coming (to our place) from Lena's.)

    The other is for instances when you go "to," be "at" or come "from" and object but to not come into contact with it orpass through it, such as "стоять у окна," (to stand at the window) or "подойдти к доске" (to walk up to the chalkboard.)

45. Summary of Prepositions of Motion

To Where?	Where?	From Where?	Used with:
в (accusative)	в ((Prepositional))	из (Genitive)	Buildings, countries, vehicles, "in" places
на (Accusative)	на (Prepositional)	с (Genitive)	Activities, certain buildings and countries, "on" places
к (Dative)	у (Genitive)	от (Genitive)	People, animate objects, approach with no contact, entry
Others:
под (Accusative)	под (Instrumental)	ис-под (Genitive)	"Under"
за (Accusative)*	за (Instrumental)	из-за (Genitive)**	"Beyond/Behind"

*This can also mean "for"
** This can also mean "because of"

46. Countries & Nationalities

Country	In Russian	Adjective	Citizen (m/f)
Afghanistan	Афганистан	Афганский	Афганец\|Афганка
Algeria	Алжир	Алжирский	Алжирец\|Алжирка
Argentina	Аргентина	Аргентинский	Аргентинец\|Аргентинка
Australia	Австралия	Австралийский	Австралиец\|Австралийка
Austria	Австрия	Австрийский	Австриец\|Австрийка
Belgium	Бельгия	Бельгийский	Бельгиец\|Бельгийка
Brazil	Бразилия	Бразильский	Бразилец\|Бразильянка
Canada	Канада	Канадский	Канадец\|Канадка
China	Китай	Китайский	Китаец\|Китайка
Czech Republic	Чехия	Чешский	Чех\|Чешка
Denmark	Дания	Датский	Датчанин\|Датчанка
Egypt	Египет	Египетский	Египтянин\|Египтянка
Finland	Финляндия	Финляндский	Финн\|Финка
France	Франция	Французский	Француз\|Француженка
Germany	Германия	Немецкий	Немец\|Немка
Greece	Греция	Греческий	Грек\|Гречанка
Holland	Голландия	Голландский	Голландец\|Голландка
Hungary	Венгрия	Венгерский	Венгр\|Венгерка
India	Индия	Индийский	Индиец\|Индианка
Indonesia	Индонезия	Индонезийский	Индонезиец\|Индонезийка
Ireland	Ирландия	Ирландский	Ирландец\|Ирландка
Italy	Италия	Итальянский	Итальянец\|Итальянка
Iran	Иран	Иранский	Иранец\|Иранка
Israel	Израиль	Израильский	Израильтянин\|Израильтянка
Japan	Япония	Японский	Японец\|Японка
Kenya	Кения	Кенийский	Кениец\|Кенийка
Korea	Корея	Корейский	Кореец\|Кореянка
Lebanon	Ливан	Ливанский	Ливанец\|Ливанка
Mexico	Мексика	Мексиканский	Мексиканец\|Мексиканка
Mongolia	Монголия	Монгольский	Монгол\|Монголка
Norway	Норвегия	Норвежский	Норвежец\|Норвежка
Pakistan	Пакистан	Пакистанский	Пакистанец\|Пакистанка
Philippines	Филиппины	Филиппинский	Филиппинец\|Филиппинка
Poland	Польша	Польский	ПолякПолька
Romania	Румыния	Румынский	Румын\|Румынка
Scotland	Шотландия	Шотландский	Шотландец\|Шотландка
South Africa	Южная Африка	Южноафриканский	Южноафриканец\|Южноафриканка
Spain	Испания	Испанский	Испанец\|Испанка
Sweden	Швеция	Шведский	Швед\|Шведка
Switzerland	Швейцария	Швейцарский	Швейцарец\|Швейцарка
Syria	Сирия	Сирийский	Сириец\|Сирийка
Taiwan	Тайвань	Тайваньский	Тайванец\|Тайванька
Turkey	Турция	Турецкий	Турок\|турчанка
United Kingdom	Великобритания	Британский/Английский	Англичанин\|Англичанка
United States of America	Соединённые-Штаты-Америки	Американский	Американец\|Американка

47. Countries & Nationalities (Former USSR)

Country	In Russian	Adjective	Person (m/f)
USSR-Union of Soviet Socialist Republics	СССР-Союз Советских Социалистических Республик	Советский
Armenia	Армения	Армянский	Армянин\|Армянка
Azerbaijan	Азербайджан	Азербайджанский	Азербайджанец\|Азербайджанка
Belarus	Беларусь	Белорусский	Белорус\|Белоруска
Estonia	Эстония	Эстонский	Эстонец\|Эстонка
Georgia	Грузия	Грузинский	Грузин\|Грузинка
Kazakhstan	Казахстан	Казахский	Казах\|Казашка
Kyrgyzstan	Кыргызстан	Кыргызский	Кыргыз\|Кыргызка
Latvia	Латвия	Латвийский	ЛатвиецЛатвийка
Lithuania	Литва	Литовский	Литовец\|Литовка
Moldova	Молдова	Молдавский	Молдаванин\|Молдаванка
Russian Federation/Russia	Российская-Федерация/Россия	Российский/Русский	Россиянин\|Россиянка/Русский\|Русская
Tadjikstan	Таджикстан	Таджикский	Таджик\|Таджичка
Turkmenistan	Туркменистан	Туркменский	Туркмен\|Туркменка
Ukraine	Украина	Украинский	Украинец\|Украинка
Uzbekistan	Узбекистан	Узбекский	Узбек\|Узбечка

Русский & Российский:
While both of these words translate into English as "Russian," their meaning is quite distinct; the former is an ethno-linguistic term and refers to ethnic Russians, regardless of present or past citizenship, whereas the latter refers to citizens of the Russian Federation who may not be ethnic Russians, such as Poles, Ukrainians, Belorusians, Germans, Tatars, Yakuts, Bashkirs, Kazakhs, and others. A similar paradigm is found in the United Kingdom, where there are the ethnic terms English, Welsh, Scottish, Cornish, Manx, etc., and the umbrella term British.

48. Common Adjective-as-State Constructions

The primary usage of short-form adjectives has been discussed elsewhere, but they are also used to describe individual states of being where one would otherwise simply use a long form adjective. Some are used on their own, and others can add additional information through the use of prepositions.

Болен/больна/больно/больны	Ill (illness takes the instrumental)
Виден/видна/видно/видны	Visible
Виноват/виновата/виновато/виноваты	Guilty, to blame (transgression takes в+prepositional
Готов/готова/готово/готовы	Prepared, ready
Доволен/довольна/довольно/довольны	Satisfied (source of satisfaction takes instrumental)
Женат	Married (said of a man, whom he is married to takes на+prepositional
Жив/жива/живо/живы	Alive
Замужем	Married (said of a woman, whom she is married to takes за+instrumental
Занят/занята/занято/заняты	Busy (what you're busy with takes c+instrumental)
Здоров/здорова/здорово/здоровы	Healthy
Похож/похожа/похожо/похожи	Look like, resemble (the person resembled takes на+accusative)
Прав/права/право/правы	Correct
Свободен/свободна/свободно/свободны	Free, not busy
Согласен/согласна/согласно/согласны	Be in agreement, agree (what is agreed takes c+instrumental)
Сыт/сыта/сыто/сыты	Full, sated
Уверен/уверена/уверено/уверены	Certain (what you're certain of takes в+prepositional)

All forms agree in gender and number with the sentence subject.

49. Reflexive and Reciprocal Pronouns
In addition to the various personal pronouns, there are a number of additional ones you should know, or at least recognize.

Reflexive
This pronouns translates roughly as "-self" and is usually used with prepositions or in noun phrases (i.e. a sentence without a verb.) There is no plural form, and the pronoun before self, such as my-, your-, one-, her-, and so on, is indicated by the subject of the sentence.

N	Себя
A	Себя
D	Себе
G	Себя
P	Себе
I	Собой

For instance, to say "How come you never talk about yourself" in Russian, you would say, "почему ты никогда не говоришь о себе?" (Notice the declension into the prepositional case.)

Reciprocal Pronoun(s)
This pronoun, свой, is largely unique to the Slavic family of languages, and is used to replace possessive pronouns when the subject and the possessor are the same thing. For instance, compare these two sentences: "Она читает свою книгу" and "Она читает её книгу" Both of these sentences translate into English as "She is reading her book," but there is one important piece of information: whose book it is. In the first case it is obvious that whatever book she may be reading, the girl in question owns it, but in the second, "her" can refer to any female. While it may seem trivial simply looking at it just from these two sentences, in the wider context, it tends to cut down on confusion with possessive pronoun use. Свой declines by case, gender and number in accordance with the word it describes, in the same fashion as мой or твой.

50. Useful Adverbs

Motion and Location
These adverbs generally share the same meanings as in English, though that includes archaic words such as "whence," or "thence." In either case, the roots are the same and the prefixes and suffixes are usually logical if you know your prepositions.

Location	Destination	Origin
здесь	сюда	отсюда
"here"	"(to) here"	"(from)here"
там	туда	оттуда
"there"	"(to) there"	"(from) there"

There are others that follow this pattern as well:

Location	Destination	Origin
слева	налево	слева
"left"	"(to)left"	"(from)left"
справа	направо	справа
"right"	"(to)right"	"(from)right"
вверху	вверх	сверху
"up"	"(to)up"	"(from)up"
внизу	вниз	снизу
"down"	"(to)down"	"(from)down"
спереди	вперёд	впереди
"from the front"	"forwards"	"In front"

Other Useful Adverbs

Быстро Везде Весной Вечером Внимательно Вообще Вчера Даже Далеко Завтра Зимой Издалека Кстати Летом	Quickly Everywhere In Spring In the Evening Carefully In General Yesterday Even Far Away Tomorrow In Winter From Far Away By the Way In Summer	Много (+gen.pl.) Медленно Наверное Наконец Наоборот Например Недалеко Неожиданно Нормально Ночью Обычно Осенью Особенно Позже	Many/Much Slowly Probably Finally On the Other Hand For Example Not Far Unexpectedly Normally At Night Usually In Autumn Especially Later	Пока Послезавтра Потом Прямо Раньше Редко Сегодня Скоро Слишком Совсем Тогда Только Точно Утром Часто	Meanwhile Day After Tomorrow Then (In that case) Directly, Straight Ahead Earlier/Previously Rarely Today Soon Too (i.e. too many) Completely Then (At that time) Only Exactly In the Morning Often

Тоже &Также -- "Too, As Well, Also"
These two adverbs are a notoriously confusing aspect of learnng Russian, largely because while English has more than one construction to express one concept, they more or less mean the same thing in common usage and can be used more or less interchangeably. Not so in Russian, however, so it is important to remember the uses of each:

Также -- Used when there is only one subject, but more than one object.
-Дедушка говорит со мной только по-английски, но он также знает голландский. -- "My grandfather only speaks to me in English, but he also knows Dutch."

Тоже -- Used when there is more than one subject, but only one object.
-"Я родилась тринадцатого .""Я тоже родился тринадцатого декабря!" -- "I was born on the 13th of December." "I was born on the 13th too!" (In this instance, you could also just say
"Я тоже!" or "А я тоже!" meaning something like "me too" or "so was I.")

51. Additional Pronouns

*Некоторый
Столько
*Такой
Насколько
Несколько
Позтому
Потому что

Some
This much/many
Such, That kind of
As far/much as
Several
Therefore
Because

Что-то
Что-нибудь
Кто-то
Кто-нибудь
Где-то
Где-нибудь
Куда-то
Куда-нибудь

Something
Anything
Someone
Anyone
Somewhere
Anywhere
(to) somewhere
(to) anywhere

*Такой-то
*Такой-нибудь
Откуда-то
Откуда-нибудь
Никогда
Ничего
Никто
Нигде

Some kind of
Any kind of
(from) somewhere
(from) anywhere
Never
Nothing
Nobody
Nowhere

Those marked * decline like adjectives.

While these pronouns are mostly straightforward in usage, there are a few things you need to remember. First and foremost, when using pronouns beginning with Ни-, always add a не just before the verb, with the pronoun before that.

    For those pronouns ending in -то and -нибудь, usage is not exactly as the translations here imply; the former is used when you are sure of the existence of something, whereas the latter indicates doubt as to whether or not such a thing exists.

For example, compare the following pairs:
- Ты ему сказала что-нибудь? (Did you tell him anything?)
- Ты ему сказала что-то! (You told him something!)

    In the first example, -нибудь is used because the speaker does not know whether or not anything was said, nor what it was if so, whereas in the second, there is certainty on the part of the speaker that something was said, even though what was said may or may not be known. (Note that generally the latter provision, what exactly was said in this context, is not a determining criteria for which ending to use.)

- Кто-нибудь мне сегодня позвонил? (Has anyone called me today?)
- Кто-то мне сегодня позвонил; знаешь ты, кто? (Someone called me today; do you know who?)

    Again, in the first instance the speaker does not know whether or not anyone has called them, while in the second instance, the speaker knows that someone has called them, and is instead asking for more information about said person; the determning factor is, to re-iterate, the existence, not specific knowledge, of something.

    There is also a specific construction to represent "each other," which while it generally functions much as its English counterpart, is unique in that prepositions go in between the two words instead of in front of them; thus it is друг к другу, "towards each other" or друг с другом "with each other," and so on. In the prepositional case, the preposition comes in between these words, i.e. друг о друге, друг на друге.

Accusative/Genitive	друг друга
Dative	друг другу
Prepositional	друг друге
Intstrumental	друг другом

52. Comparative and Superlative Adjectives

    The comparative of adjectives, -er edjectives like bigger, darker, smaller, etc. in English, can be formed in one of two ways. The first is to use the comparative больше or более (больше is literally the comparative of большой, or big, though in the comparative can mean "more" as well as более,) plus the adjective you are using.

    The second is to use the specific comparative form of the adjective. The individual comparative form usually involves the addition of -ee as the adjective ending, such as with красивее and тяжелее. There are a number of irregulars, some of which, like громче, (louder, from громкий,) дороже, (more expensive, from дорогой,) or богаче, (richer, from богатый,) involve following the consonant palatalization rules outlined in section 24 plus -e, while others like старше, (older,) or дальше (farther) are completely irregular.

    For either, there are two ways to say "than," usually depending on the word coming after. Usually, if the word is a noun, adjective, pronoun, or number, then the word in question is simply declined into the genitive case. i.e. Больше одного, (more than one,) старше тебя, (older than you, from старый,) or красивее вашего, (more beautiful than yours.) The other is to use the pronoun чем (not чём!) followed by either a nominative, or, as is most common, a word that cannot be declined as above such as a verb or construction beginning with a preposition.

    As you can see, comparative adjectives do not decline by either gender or case.

    Like the comparative, there are two ways to form the superlative adjective in Russian. The first and easiest is simply to use the adjective самый (most) plus the adjective in question. This method is most common in spoken Russian. The second is to form the individual superlatives, which unlike those of the comparatives, are highly regular and easy to form; there are two possible forms, which are dependent only on the adjective stem. If the stem ends in к, г, or х, you add -айший after changing these letters to ч, ж, and ш respectively. For the remainder of adjectives, you simply add the ending -ейший, such as богатейший (richest,) быстрейший, (fastest,) светлейший, (lightest,) or вкуснейший, (tastiest.) These are more common in formal or written Russian than in spoken, though the latter does have occasional ones such as ближайший (closest), but even then superlative usage is still rather uncommon.

    And finally, as in virtually all Indo-European languages, the comparative and superlative words for the adjectives "good" and "bad" are irregular in Russian:

Good: хороший Better: лучший Best: самый лучший (наилучший)	Bad: плохой Worse: худший Worst: самый худший (наихудший)

53. The Passive Voice & Rules of Word Order

    The passive voice indicates that the action of a sentence or phrase is performed ON the subject, and not BY the subject. The passive is usually formed by the addition of the reflexive suffix to the end of the verb: -ся (pronounced "-ца") after consonants, or -сь after vowels, while any words that indicate who or what is performing the action take the instrumental case.

So, for instance,
Active: Где продают компьютеры? -- "Where do they sell computers?"
Passive: Где продаются компьютеры? -- "Where are computers sold?"
In theory, most verbs can be used as such, but a number are rarely, if ever seen anywhere.

    It should be noted, however, that the use of the suffix -ся/-сь is not primarily for use in the passive voice, even if that is where it is often seen. There are two groups of verbs that also use the same ending. The first are so-called "reflexive verbs" which always have -ся/-сь regardless of logic. The other, and more numerous group are those verbs that are transtive (that must take a direct object) but used in a context that does not have one This does not include cases where the object has been noted in a previous construction.

    Usage of the passive voice in Russian versus that of English also brings up the issue of word order, which is much freer in Russian than in English, and so while the passive voice is often used in English to change the word order, you can do the same in Russian while keeping the active voice. That is not to say that pasive constructions are rare in Russian; they are quite often used in regular speech, particularly statements of want, need or like, along with various indirect or impersonal constructions.

    Nonetheless, there are a few general rules and trends that may help in deciding what to put where:
-Prepositons must be placed before the noun or pronoun it is tied to; adjectives can be placed in between them, but the preposition must come before the noun/pronoun.
-Information that is emphasized or that is newly introduced by the sentence goes at or near the end.
-If the object of a sentence is a pronoun, word order is usually subject-object-verb; if the object is a noun, order is typically subject-verb-object.

    Thus while theoretically more or less any order of words is possible, as noted in the section on inflection, deviation from the subject-verb-object or subject-object-verb structure is rare outside of prose and poetry. As it is in any language, the less complex the sentence structure, the greater chances of being understood in full.

54. The Anthem of the Soviet Union

(These are my translations; others may differ according to the translator)

Soviet National Anthem (1977 version)
Союз нерушимый республик свободных Сплотила навеки Великая Русь Да здравствует созданный волей народов Единый, могучий Советский Союз! Припев: Славься, Отечество наше свободное, Дружбы народов надежный оплот! Партия Ленина - сила народная Нас к торжеству коммунизма ведет! Сквозь грозы сияло нам солнце свободы, И Ленин великий нам путь озарил: На правое дело он поднял народы, на труд и на подвиги нас вдохновил! Припев В победе бессмертных идей коммунизма Мы видим грядущее нашей страны, И красному знамени славной Отчизны Мы будем всегда беззаветно верны! Припев	Unbreakable union of free republics Joined for the ages by Great Russia. Long live the creation of the will of the people, The one, great, Soviet Union Refrain: Hail our free fatherland, A hopeful future of the friendship of the people! The Party of Lenin, the force of the people, Leads us towards the triumph of communism! Through the storms shone for us the sun of freedom And great Lenin lit the way for us: He set the people onto the right path, Inspired us in labor and achievement! Refrain In the victory of the invincible ideas of communism We see the future of our country, And to the red banner of our glorious fatherland, We will always be selflessly dedicated! Refrain

55. The Anthem of the Russian Federation (2000 version)

Россия - священная наша держава, Россия - любимая наша страна. Могучая воля, великая слава - Твое достояние на все времена! Припев: Славься, Отечество наше свободное, Братских народов союз вековой, Предками данная мудрость народная! Славься, страна! Мы гордимся тобой! От южных морей до полярного края Раскинулись наши леса и поля. Одна ты на свете! Одна ты такая - Хранимая Богом родная земля! Припев Широкий простор для мечты и для жизни Грядущие нам открывают года. Нам силу даёт наша верность Отчизне. Так было, так есть и так будет всегда! Припев	Russia, our sacred nation, Russia, our beloved country. A powerful will, and great glory, Your possession for all time! Refrain: Hail our free fatherland, Of brotherly of peoples, centuries united Given the people's wisdom by our ancestors! Hail country! You make us proud! From the Southern seas to the open frontiers Stretch our forests and plains. You are one in the light! You, Our one Native land, protected by God! Refrain The wide space to dream, to live, The future years are open to us. Our fidelity gives might to the fatherland. As it was, is, and always will be! Refrain