This post is all about conjunctions. If you don’t know what a conjunction is, look at the box below:
| A conjunction is a grammatical element that connects words or sentences, such as and, but, or, etc. |
There are a number of conjunctions that exist in Russian, but in this post, I’m only covering 4 simple key conjunctions: и, а, но, and или, which are used all the time in Russian. They are extremely short but require some explaining in order to use them properly.
| The conjunction и means and and can connect both nouns and sentences. |
| Separate Sentences | United Sentence |
| Кошка лежит на диване. The cat lies on the couch. Собака [тоже] лежит на диване. The dog [also] lies on the couch. | Кошка и собака лежат на диване. The cat and the dog are lying on the couch. |
Both the cat and dog are lying on the couch. They have that in common, thus we can connect cat and dog with the conjunction and turn two sentences into one.
And what about here?
| Separate Sentences | United Sentence |
| Я делаю упражнения. I do exercises. Я [также] слушаю музыку. I listen to music. | Я делаю упражнения и слушаю музыку. I do exercises and listen to music. |
I do exercises and listen to music; thus, I can unite those two sentences into one via the conjunction и.
And here? I can turn three separate sentences into one here with this conjunction.
| Separate Sentences | United Sentence |
| Я прочитал «Анну Каренину». I have read Anna Karenina. Я прочитал «Войну и Мир». I have read War and Peace. Я прочитал «Детство». I have read Childhood. | Я прочитал «Анну Каренину», «Войну» и «Мир и Детство». I have read Anna Karenina, War and Peace and Childhood. |
I think you get the idea already. Let’s move on!
| The conjunction а means and, however it’s used to indicate a distinction, which is why in addition to and, it can also mean but (rather) or even while/whereas. |
| Separate Sentences | United Sentence |
| Он ест яблоко. He eats an apple. Она ест помидор. She eats a tomato. | Он ест яблоко, а она ест помидор. He eats an apple, and she eats a tomato. He eats an apple, but she eats a tomato. He eats an apple while she eats a tomato. He eats an apple whereas she eats a tomato. |
He is eating an apple, and she is eating a tomato. They are not eating the same thing, so a is used to highlight this distinction. The sentence can therefore be translated several different ways.
| Мне нравится фильм. А тебе? I like the film. And you? |
In the sentence above, а would more accurately translate and instead of и, because we are indicating a contrast. I like the film. And (what/how about) you?
| Я не родился в СССР, а в США. I wasn’t born in the USSR, but rather in the USA. |
| The conjunction но means but and always that. |
| Separate Sentences | United Sentence |
| Он добрый. [это хорошо] He is nice. Он очень ленивый. [это плохо] He is very lazy. | Он добрый, но очень ленивый. He’s nice, but very lazy. |
He is nice, which is good, but he‘s very lazy, which is bad.
And one more example.
| Separate Sentences | United Sentence |
| Я хочу пойти на озеро. [желание] Я не могу. [я теперь слишком занят] | Я хочу пойти на озеро, но не могу. I want to go to the lake, but I can’t. |
I had a desire to go there, I wanted to, but now I’m too busy and therefore, I can’t go.
| The conjunction или means or and can connect both nouns and sentences. |
| Separate Sentences | United Sentence |
| Ты пьёшь чай? Do you drink tea? Ты пьёшь воду? Do you drink water? [я не уверен] | Ты пьёшь чай или воду? Do you drink tea or water? |
Do you drink? Or do you drink water? I’m not sure.
One more example.
| Separate Sentences | United Sentence |
| Ты работаете? Do you work? Ты учишься? Are you a student? [можно и то, и другое, но стоит спросить] | Ты работаете или учишься? Do you work or are you a student? |
And there you have it! Four critical conjunctions in the Russian language are now at your disposal! Is there more to learn? Undoubtedly the answer is yes, but as usual, we’ll be covering additional information in future posts.
| Last Edit: 12/07/2025. |
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