💣Lesson ten! Just like lesson five, this lesson’s going to be different from the lessons that preceded it. Why? Because it’s a review lesson! This type of lesson will occur every 5th lesson. We’re going to review the main grammar topics covered and at the end of this lesson, you’ll take a quiz. I repeat, the main grammar topics – not all, followed by a quiz, or rather a series of quizzes, I should say. 😏
[quizzes to come soon]
Also, review lessons are going to be the only lessons to feature emojis. Young people love to use emojis, so much that they over-use them. I prefer to avoid using them, because, in my opinion, too many emojis makes things look cheap. No matter how artistic and fun they may make your writing look.
📌While this number is tentative, 5 of the key-est topics will be covered in each review lesson. I’d like to review every topic covered, but that’s just not possible. With only 5 this post is already going to have a lot of depth. Therefore, I’ve chosen the ones that you really should master before moving on.
💎I. Spelling Rule #1
I couldn’t omit this topic of Russian grammar, especially since it will recur endlessly.
💡There are 3 spelling rules in the language. We’ll learn the next 2 later on.
Never write ы after velars:
| к | г | х |
горький, сладкий, враги, шаги, мухи, духи
and hushers:
| ч | ж | ш | щ |
врачи, ножи, лжи, наши, ваши, вещи
This rule is unaffected by gender, number and case. It is applied in all instances!
острые ножи [sharp knives], ваши вещи [your things], маленькие мухи [small flies]
💎II. Expressing whose?
💡The word чей is used to express whose in Russian. It agrees in gender and number.
| masc. | fem. | neut. | plur. |
| чей | чья | чьё | чьи |
To ask to whom an item belongs, it’s easy.
–Чьи это вещи? –Это мои вещи.
Whose things are these? -They are my things.
–Чей это рюкзак? –Это твой рюкзак.
Whose backpack is this? -It’s your backpack.
–Чья это клавиатура? –Это его клавиатура.
Whose keyboard is this? -It’s his keyboard.
–Чьё это такси? –Это наше такси.
Whose taxi is this? -It’s our taxi.
💎III. Expressing to have
💡Expressing to have in Russian requires a different construction. In English a verb is used, but in Russian you need the preposition у, which requires the genitive case, then есть, a conjugation of быть and means there is, there are.
| у меня есть | I have [lit. by me there is] |
| у тебя есть | you have [lit. by you there is] |
| у него есть | he has [lit. by him there is] |
| у неё есть | she has [lit. by her there is] |
| у нас есть | we have [lit. by us there is] |
| у вас есть | you have [lit. by you there is] |
| у них есть | they have [lit. by them there is] |
У меня есть время.
I have time.
У нас есть мобильники.
We have cell phones.
У них есть интересы.
They have interests.
💎VI. The Genitive Case
💡The genitive case is the second case in Russian. Its purpose is to indicate possession. But, as we learned, its usage is very diverse. It answers the questions чего? and кого?
Forming it is rather straightforward.
For masculine nouns ending in a consonant, add –а. For nouns ending in –й, replace it with –я. For nouns ending in a soft sign, replace it with –я.
| [nominative] что? кто? | [genitive] чего? кого? |
| У меня есть друг. I have a friend. | У меня нет друга. I don’t have a friend. |
| У тебя есть трамвай. You have a tram. | У тебя нет трамвая. You don’t have a tram. |
| У него есть руль. He has a steering wheel. | У него нет руля. He doesn’t have a role. |
For feminine nouns ending in –а, replace it with –ы. For nouns ending in –я, replace it with –и. For nouns ending in a soft sign, replace it with –и.
| У меня есть жена. I have a wife. | У меня нет жены. I don’t have a wife. |
| У Вас есть статья. You have an article. | У Вас нет статьи. You don’t have an article. |
| У него есть соль. He has salt. | У него нет соли. He doesn’t have salt. |
For neuter nouns ending in –о, replace it with –а. For nouns ending in –е, replace it with –я.
| У нас есть пиво. We have beer. | У нас нет пива. We don’t have beer. |
| У них есть поле. They have a field. | У них нет поля. They don’t have a field. |
💎V: Key Prepositions Requiring the Genitive
Don’t forget these essential prepositions. They are used over and over in the language. And they have other meanings. We will only be covering their basic meanings here.
| близко от [close to] | Окно близко от двери. The window is close to the door. |
| далеко от [far from] | Магазин далеко от парка. The store is far from the market. |
| от [from -in reference to a person] | Это сообщение от Яны. It’s a message from Yana. |
| до [(up) until] | До сведания! Goodbye! |
| без [without] | Кофе без сахара и молока, пожалуйста. Coffee without sugar and milk, please. |
5 key points highlighted for you. 🙂 See you in lesson 11!
My Slavic Studies 