Russian language grammar
Like most Slavic languages , Russian is highly inflected . It knows three grammatical genders and six cases ( case ). There is a category of liveliness ; H. Within the grammatical genders, a distinction is still made between animate (i.e. people and animals) and inanimate (i.e. other) nouns.
In Russian, the following types of words are inflected: nouns (also proper names), adjectives , pronouns and numerals are declined, the verbs are conjugated. Adjectives and adverbs can be increased.
Russian (like Latin, for example ) has no articles . The determinateness or indeterminacy of a thing is inferred from the context.
Case (падéж) in the Russian language
In Russian there are usually six grammatical cases. In addition to the four cases known in German, nominative , genitive , dative and accusative, these are the instrumental and prepositive cases (also referred to as locative , which can, however, lead to confusion). In addition, some traces of the vocative have been preserved in Russian (e.g. бoжe мой "my God!"). Finally, some nouns differentiate between two different forms of the genitive (e.g. чашка чaю and чашка чaя for "a cup (filled with) tea"). With a generous count, one could put up to eight cases in Russian.
Each case answers two questions from two series. One series relates to the animate nouns and the other to the inanimate. The animate nouns include all animal and human-related nouns and the inanimate all others.
The cases and the questions about them are presented in the table below:
| Падеж (case) | Questions about the animate nouns | Questions about the inanimate nouns |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Именительный (nominative) | кто? (who?) | что? (What?) |
| 2. Родительный (genitive) | кого? (whose? ¹ ²) | чего? (whose?) |
| 3. Дательный (dative) | кому? (whom?) | чему? (whom?) |
| 4. Винительный (accusative) | кого? (who?) ¹ | что? (what?) ¹ |
| 5. Творительный (instrumental) | кем? (with whom? ³) | чем? (with what? ³) |
| 6. Предложный (prepositive) | (о) ⁴ ком? (about whom? / by whom?) | (о) ⁴ чём? (about what? / from what?) |
Remarks:
- For the Russian accusative case, the question of the animate nouns corresponds to the genitive case, whereas for the inanimate nouns it is the same as the question of the nominative case. That is why a question (кого?) Is translated twice, because there is a separate question for the accusative “who?” In German. This has a direct effect on the declension of nouns and adjectives .
- In contrast to the German language, this question has an exclusively objective meaning and no possessive meaning.
- In terms of an application like: " Who will the coach replace the injured player with?" And " What do you use to clean your glasses?"
- The prepositive is only used in connection with certain prepositions.
Nouns ([имена] существительные)
Gender of nouns
The grammatical gender (Russian род) of a noun can be recognized in most cases by the ending.
Nouns that end in a hard consonant are masculine. Nouns ending in о, ё or е are neuter with a few exceptions.
On а or я ending nouns are women in most cases, with two exceptions:
- The ten nouns in мя - including such common ones as имя (first) name and время time - are neuter.
- The second exception concerns those personal designations in which the natural gender dominates the grammatical one: if the noun refers to a person of male gender, the noun is also male, otherwise it is female. In this case it is only evident from the context which gender the noun has; Examples: левша left-handed, коллега colleague, судья judge, глава meaning ladder, пьяница drinker, бедняга poor swallower. For the declination, however, the natural gender does not play a role; H. masculine nouns on а / я are inflected in the same way as feminine (namely after the second declension, see below).
Nouns that end in a ь (soft sign) can be masculine or feminine; the females are clearly in the majority. The declination of female and male nouns on ь is different (example: голубь dove male; любовь love female). The following rules apply to gender: Nouns preceded by a sibilant ь (= ж, ч, ш, щ ) are feminine ( e.g. ложь lie, печь oven). All inanimate nouns ending in бь, вь, пь, сь, сть, знь and all monosyllabic inanimate nouns ending in ть are also feminine. Exception: путь way that is declined irregularly (in the instrumental singular after the first declination, in all other cases after the third) is masculine .
It should be noted that certain other and frequently occurring substantive suffixes have a signaling effect with regard to gender and declination, e.g. B. Nouns with - тель (писатель - the writer / male, 1st declension soft) or with - ость (радость - the joy / feminine, 3rd declension).
In Russian, loanwords (see also below) are primarily assigned to a grammatical gender or a declination pattern according to their ending. Foreign words on "a" such as "проблема" (problem) are mostly treated as feminine, even if the original gender is different, in this case neuter. The same applies to original feminine words such as "university" (Университет, male in Russian). In contrast to Polish , Latin loanwords ending in "-um" are always treated as masculine due to their consonant ending.
Certain loanwords, some of whose endings do not fit into the system of the Russian language, were adopted in the language as neuter undeclinable nouns (e.g. show шоу, radio радио, taxi такcи or Metro метро ).
There is no definite or indefinite article in Russian.
Rules for writing the declension endings of nouns
For the spelling (and consequently also the pronunciation) of the vowels in the declension endings of the nouns (and also the adjectives), certain rules apply, depending on which consonant the stem ends:
| Stem end | a | O | u | i | e |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. on hard consonants (except г, к, х; ж, ш, ц ) | а | о | у | ы | е |
| 2. on soft consonants (except ч, щ ) | я | stressed: ё unstressed: е | ю | и | е |
| 3. on г, к, х | а | о | у | и | е |
| 4. on ж, ш, ч, щ | а | stressed: о unstressed: е | у | и | е |
| 5. on ц | а | stressed: о unstressed: е | у | ы | е |
Declension of nouns (singular)
There are three types of declination in Russian. The I. declination applies to male nouns with zero ending and all declinable neuter nouns. The II. Declension applies to male and female nouns ending in -а, -я, The III. Declination is used for feminine nouns that end in ь . There is also a special declination for neuter nouns that end in мя (e.g. пламя flame, темя vertex ) and two more words. There is also a special declension for nouns with endings -ий, -ие, -ия.
Nouns adjectives are inflected like adjectives .
There are also some nouns that you shouldn't bend .
The endings are decided according to the cases. Here are two examples: The masculine noun стол - the table (1st declination) and the feminine word площадь - the place (3rd declination) are inflected in the singular as follows:
| Case (Падеж) | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1. (Имени́тельный) | стол | площадь |
| 2. (Роди́тельный) | стола | площади |
| 3. (Да́тельный) | столу | площади |
| 4. (Вини́тельный) | стол | площадь |
| 5. (Твори́тельный) | столом | площадью |
| 6. (Предло́жный) | столе | площади |
There are some differences in declination between words that end in a hard consonant or a soft consonant . See the respective declination table.
I. Declination
| Nominative | Masculine without ending with a hard consonant at the end and neuter with -о | Masculine without ending with a soft consonant at the end and neuter with -е |
| Genitive | -а | -я |
| dative | -у | -ю |
| accusative | ¹ [See note below] | |
| Instrumental | -ом³ | -ем²³ |
| Prepositive | -е⁴ | |
- 1: In the accusative, the animate masculine nouns have the form of the genitive, the few animate neutrals that of the nominative, and the inanimate those of the nominative (see case )
- 2: After a soft consonant, a ё is written when stressed; unstressed an е.
- 3: Russian male surnames ending in -ов (-ев), -ёв, -ин (-ын) have the ending -ым: Горбачёв ым , Путин ым.
- 4: Many male monosyllabic nouns whose stress falls on the ending when inflected have the ending -у in the sense of an adverbial definition in the prepositive.
Examples:
| Nominative | дом, mask. (the house); село́, neutr. (the village) | конь, mask. (a male horse); поле, neutr. (the field) |
| Genitive | дом а , сел а | кон я , пол я |
| dative | дом у , сел у | кон ю , пол ю |
| accusative | дом, сел о | кон я , пол е |
| Instrumental | дом ом , сел ом | кон ём , пол ем |
| Prepositive | (о) дом е , сел е | (о) кон е , пол е |
II. Declination
| Nominative | -a | -я |
| Genitive | -ы¹ | -и |
| dative | -е | |
| accusative | -у | -ю |
| Instrumental | -ой³ | -ей²³ |
| Prepositive | -е | |
- 1: An и is written after sibilants and г, к and х.
- 2: A ё is written after a soft consonant when stressed; unstressed an е.
- 3: Obsolete forms -ою and -ею can still be found.
Examples:
| Nominative | пaп а , mask. (Papa) | зар я , fem. (morning or evening glow ) |
| Genitive | пап ы | зар и |
| dative | пап е | зар е |
| accusative | пап у | зар ю |
| Instrumental | пап ой | зар ёй |
| Prepositive | (о) пап е | (о) зар е |
III. declination
| Nominative | -ь |
| Genitive | -и |
| dative | -и |
| accusative | -ь |
| Instrumental | -ью |
| Prepositive | -и |
Example:
| Nominative | степ ь (the steppe) |
| Genitive | степ и |
| dative | степ и |
| accusative | степь |
| Instrumental | степь ю |
| Prepositive | о степ и |
Special declination (Разносклоняемые имена существительные)
Ten neuter nouns are assigned to the special declination -мя: бремя (last), время (time), вымя (udder), знамя (flag), имя (name), пламя (flame), племя (stem), семя (seed) , стремя (bracket), темя (crown).
They are declined as follows:
| Nominative | -я |
| Genitive | -и |
| dative | -и |
| accusative | -я |
| Instrumental | -ем |
| Prepositive | -и |
a) The word does not change in the accusative.
b) In other grammatical cases, the suffix -ен- is added before the ending.
Example:
| Nominative | имя |
| Genitive | им ен и |
| dative | им ен и |
| accusative | имя |
| Instrumental | им ен ем |
| Prepositive | (об) им ен и |
Two more irregularly declined nouns can be added to the special declination: путь, mask. (Way) and дитя, neutr. (Child). The declension of these words:
| Nominative | путь | дитя |
| Genitive | пут и | дитя ти |
| dative | пут и | дитя ти |
| accusative | путь | дитя ти |
| Instrumental | пут ём | дитя тею |
| Prepositive | (о) пут и | (о) дитя ти |
Declension of nouns in -ий, -ие, -ия
Male nouns in -ий, neuter nouns in -ие and feminine nouns in -ия are inflected as follows:
| Nominative | -ий | -ие | -ия |
| Genitive | -ия | -ии | |
| dative | -ию | -ии | |
| accusative | -ий / -ия | -иe | -ию |
| Instrumental | -ем | -ией | |
| Prepositive | -ии | ||
Examples:
| Nominative | магний, mask. ( magnesium ) | терпе́ние, neutr. (patience) | мо́лния, fem. (lightning) |
| Genitive | магн ия | терпе́н ия | молн ии |
| dative | магн ию | терпе́н ию | молн ии |
| accusative | магн ий | терпе́н иe | молн ию |
| Instrumental | магни ем | терпе́ни ем | молни ей |
| Prepositive | (о) магн ии | (о) терпе́н ии | (о) молн ии |
Plural of nouns
education
- In the II. And III. Declination is formed in the plural in a uniform way by the endings -ы or -и. The ending -и is put after sibilants as well as г, к and х. The ending -ы is used in other cases.
- All neuter nouns ending in -о, -е have the ending -а, -я in the plural.
- Male nouns from the I. declension mainly have the endings -и, -ы in the plural.
- In addition to this form, there is also a second form with -а for some nouns. These are nouns ending in -ер, -ор, which mostly designate a profession. They can often be found in technical jargon as a collective term for the profession. z. B. Инженера́ на на́шем предприя́тии высоко́ опла́чиваются. The use of the usual form on -ы is also possible in this case.
- For the word дом (house) the ending -а (дома) is the only correct one.
- For masculine nouns ending in -ин, the suffix -ин is replaced with the ending -е.
declination
In the plural, all nouns are declined almost uniformly. The differences only affect the genitive.
| Nominative | -и, -я | -ы, -а | -е |
| dative | -ям | -ам | |
| accusative | s. Note below | ||
| Instrumental | -ями | -ами | |
| Prepositive | -ях | -ах | |
In the accusative case, the animate nouns have the form of the genitive and the inanimate that of the nominative.
Declination of the plural in the genitive:
| category | I. Dec., Masculine with a hard consonant or with the soft "й" at the end | II. Decl. And Neutra to -о, I. Dec. Mask. on -IN | III. Dec., I. Dec. Mask. with a soft consonant at the end; Neutra to -e |
| Genitive | -ов, -ев | O | -ей |
Ø stands for the zero ending .
Examples:
| Singular | вор (thief), гений (genius), музей (museum) | лампа (lamp), село (village, church village) | роль (theater role), конь, море | крестьянин (farmer) |
| Nominative | воры, гении, музе́и | лампы, сёла | роли, кони, моря́ | крестьяне |
| Genitive | воров, гениев, музеев | ламп, сёл | ролей, коней, морей | крестьян |
| dative | ворам, гениям, музеям | лампам, сёлам | ролям, коням, морям | крестьянам |
| accusative | воров, гениев, музеи | лампы, сёла | роли, коней, моря | крестьян |
| Instrumental | ворами, гениями, музеями | лампами, сёлами | ролями, конями, морями | крестьянами |
| Prepositive | о ворах, о гениях, о музеях | о лампах, сёлах | о ролях, конях, морях | о крестьянах |
The non-declinable nouns
In the Russian language, the following groups of nouns are not inflected either in number or in case:
- Nouns of foreign language origin on -у, -и, and stressed -е, -о, -а.
- Geographical names on -у, -и, -е, -о
- Personal names of foreign language origin on -у, -и, -е, -о and stressed -а.
- Feminines of a foreign language origin that end with a hard consonant.
- Family names on -ово, -аго, -яго, -ых, -их and -ко.
pronoun
Personal pronouns
The following table shows personal pronouns and their declension.
| Singular | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | я (me) | ты (you) | он (he) + оно (es) / она (she) |
| Genitive | (у) меня | (у) тебя | его (у н его) / её (у н её) |
| dative | (ко) мне | (к) тебе | ему (к н ему) / ей (к н ей) |
| accusative | (на) меня | (на) тебя | его (на н его) / её (на н её) |
| Instrumental | (со) мной (-ою) | (с) тобой (-ою) | им (с н им) / ей (с н ей) |
| Prepositive | (обо) мне | (о) тебе | (о н ём) / (о н ей) |
| Plural | |||
| Nominative | мы (we) | вы (her) | они (them) |
| Genitive | (у) нас | (у) вас | их (у н их) |
| dative | (к) нам | (к) вам | им (к н им) |
| accusative | (на) нас | (на) вас | их (на н их) |
| Instrumental | (с) нами | (с) вами | ими (с н ими) |
| Prepositive | (о) нас | (о) вас | (о н их) |
Remarks:
- After prepositions, the forms of the 3rd Pers.Sg. and pl. a н- prefixed (unless they are used as possessive pronouns [see below]): него, неё, них etc.
- -Final consonant prepositions, before мне and мной a -о attached (eg. B .: со мной). Before мне , the preposition о takes the form обо мне .
- The politeness form Вы is bowed like вы.
possessive pronouns
In Russian there are the following possessive pronouns:
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | |
| Singular | мой (my) | твой (your) | его (to be), её (her), его (to be) |
| Plural | наш (our) | ваш (your) | их (her) |
There is also the pronoun свой , which, related to the subject, is used for all three persons of the singular and plural. (see below).
E.g .:
- Люблю свою жену = "I love my wife";
- Люблю его жену = "I love his wife";
- Он любит свою жену = He loves his (own) wife;
- Он любит его жену = He loves his wife (= another man's wife).
Declension of possessive pronouns
The possessive pronouns are declined similar to adjectives (see below ). мой, твой, свой and наш, ваш are each declined according to the same pattern:
| 1st person Singular | Singular | Plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| male | sächl. | female | all genders | |
| Nominative | мой (my) | мо ё | моя | мо и |
| Genitive | мо его | мо ей | мо их | |
| dative | мо ему | мо ей | мо им | |
| accusative | мой / мо его | мо ё / мо его | мо ю | мо и / мо их |
| Instrumental | мо им | мо ей | мо ими | |
| Prepositive | о мо ём | о мо ей | мо их | |
| 1st person Plural | ||||
| Nominative | наш (our) | наш е | наш а | наш и |
| Genitive | наш его | наш ей | наш их | |
| dative | наш ему | наш ей | наш им | |
| accusative | наш / наш его | наш е / наш его | наш у | наш и / наш их |
| Instrumental | наш им | наш ей | наш ими | |
| Prepositive | о наш ем | о наш ей | наш их | |
If a possessive pronoun is part of the subject, no свой may be used - so свой is never in the nominative:
Иван и его брат Владимир
The third person pronouns (его, её, его, их), which are actually only genitive forms of the personal pronouns, are not declined.
Use of possessive pronouns
I. мой , твой , наш , ваш
II. Его , её , их
III. свой
Adjectives ([имена] прилагательные)
Types of adjectives
In Russian there are two main groups of adjectives:
I. Qualitative adjectives: These are adjectives that express a direct property that can appear to a greater or lesser extent and which allows a comparison (e.g. старая книга - the old book).
II. Related (relative) adjectives: They express properties by establishing a relationship with the object or concept from which they are derived (e.g. пожарная команда - fire brigade). In German, such relationships are often expressed using compound nouns (see example above). Special groups within the related adjectives are:
- a) the generic adjectives, which express belonging to a certain group of living beings (e.g. птичий голос - bird's voice).
- b) the possessive adjectives, which in many cases express a personal property relationship and are usually formed from personal names or nouns that designate people (e.g. отцов дом - the father's house).
The relationships expressed with genus adjectives and possessive adjectives can in most cases be represented by the use of the noun corresponding to the adjective in the genitive (e.g. голос птицы; дом отца).
| features | Qualitative adjectives | Related adjectives |
| Forms (see below) | Long and short form | long form only; always derived |
| Increments | Positive , comparative , superlative | only positive |
| Connectivity | with adverbs of degree (e.g .: очень - very) | do not connect with these |
| Derivation basis | for adverbs | - |
Long forms of adjectives
Declination of long forms
A distinction is made between adjectives with a hard and a soft stem end.
In the accusative plural as well as in the accusative of masculine and neuter nouns, the ending depends on the inanimate (nominative) and animate (genitive) noun.
The same rules apply to the writing of the vowels in the endings as to the declination of the nouns.
I. hard stem end:
| Singular | male | neutrally | Female |
| Nominative | -ый / -ой | -ое | -ая |
| Genitive | -ого | -ой | |
| dative | -ому | -ой | |
| accusative | -ый / -ой / -ого | -ое | -ую |
| Instrumental | -ым | -ой | |
| Prepositive | -ом | -ой | |
| Plural | all genders |
| Nominative | -ые |
| Genitive | -ых |
| dative | -ым |
| accusative | -ые / -ых |
| Instrumental | -ыми |
| Prepositive | -ых |
Male adjectives end in the singular in ой when this ending is emphasized (e.g. большой - large). After sibilants and г, к and х an и is written instead of ы.
II. Soft stem end:
| Singular | male | neutrally | Female |
| Nominative | -ий | -ее | -яя |
| Genitive | -его | -ей | |
| dative | -ему | -ей | |
| accusative | -ий / -его | -ее | -юю |
| Instrumental | -им | -ей | |
| Prepositive | -ем | -ей | |
| Plural | all genders |
| Nominative | -ие |
| Genitive | -их |
| dative | -им |
| accusative | -ие / -их |
| Instrumental | -ими |
| Prepositive | -их |
Short forms of adjectives
Formation of the short forms
Short forms can only be formed by quality adjectives, but not by all.
In some cases, the short forms have developed their own meaning and are called predicative adjectives . Of a small number of adjectives, only the short forms still exist.
To form the short form of an adjective, you have to delete the ending ( -ый / -ой, -ое, -ая or -ий, -ее, -яя ) and replace it with the following endings:
| Singular | male | Female | neutrally |
| hard stem end | - | -а | -о |
| soft stem end | -ь | -я | -е |
| Plural | all genders |
| hard stem end | -ы |
| soft stem end | -и |
After sibilants and г, к and х an и is written instead of ы.
When forming the male singular form, however, there are a few special features to consider:
I. If the stem in the long form ends in two consonants and the last one is к or н, a fleeting -о- or -е- or -ё- (in accented Position) inserted. -О- occurs before к after the preceding hard consonant (except ш and ж), -е - / - ё- in all other cases. However, there are exceptions to this distribution, e.g. B. голодный (hungry) - голоден.
II. Sometimes there is also a vowel insert with the stem ending on -р or -л.
III. The adjectives ending in -нный in the masculine singular form either end in -нен or -ен.
increase
Formation of the comparative
The compound comparative is formed by putting the unchangeable более (more) or менее (less) in front of an adjective in the positive , e.g. B. более старый (older), менее старый (less old). The adjective matches the relational word. The adjectives in -ский are only compound comparative forms.
The simple comparative is formed from the adjective stem by adding the endings -ее (colloquially also -ей), -е, -ше. Most adjectives form the simple comparative -ее, -ей, e.g. E.g .: красивый / красив - красивее / красивей (beautiful - more beautiful). In adjectives whose stem ends in -г, -к, -х, -д, -т, -ст, -е is usually added to the stem, with an additional consonant change (г / д - ж; к / т - ч ; х - ш; ст - щ) occurs. There are also a small number of adjectives that use the ending -ше to create irregular comparative forms, such as E.g .: xороший / хорош - лучший / лучше (good - better); маленький (малый) - меньше (small - smaller); старый / стар - старший / старше (old - older). Some other adjectives also form irregular simple comparative forms. Especially with two-syllable adjectives, the emphasis often changes from the first to the second syllable: сильный / силён - сильнéе (сильнéй) (strong - stronger).
In addition to the normal comparative forms, a special group of adjectives forms declinable long forms on -ший (e.g. старый / стар - старший / старше - old - older or oldest), which are declined like adjectives and can also be used as a superlative. These mostly only appear in fixed phrases or terms.
The comparative can be weakened with the prefix по- ( e.g .: по меньше - slightly smaller).
Use of the comparative
The compound comparative forms are mainly used as attributes, but can also be used as predicates. Of the simple forms, mostly only the declinable long forms are used as attributes. The simple immutable forms are usually only used as a predicate (He is older. - Он старше.).
The comparison by "as" can be expressed in Russian in two ways:
- a) by чем + nominative in compound forms as well as in simple forms, if the comparison word cannot be declined (e.g. infinitive).
- b) by the genitive of the comparison word in simple comparative forms.
Formation of the superlative
The compound superlative is formed
- a) by putting самый (all, whole) or occasionally наибoлее before an adjective in the positive, e.g. E.g .: самый старый ([very] oldest). The adjective and самый (which is declined like a normal adjective) match the relational word.
- b) by combining the simple comparative form with the following genitive всех or всего (as all or as all), such as E.g .: красивее всех / всего (most beautiful). Всех is only used when comparing countable people and objects.
The simple superlative is formed by adding the suffix -ейший or -айший to the adjective stem, e.g. E.g .: старейший (pronounced old). -айший is added when the adjective stem ends in -г / -к / -х, with a consonant change (г - ж; к - ч; х - ш).
The combination of наи- at the beginning of the word and a simple superlative in some adjectives is comparable to the German aller-, such as B. наилучший - "very best".
Use of the superlative
The superlative forms combined with самый are mainly used as attributive, sometimes also predicative. The superlative forms combined with всех or всего, on the other hand, are used exclusively in a predicative manner. The forms on -ейший or -айший are used as superlatives, preferably in the written language and almost only as attributes.
The simple superlative forms are mainly used as an elative (which does not exist in German, the meaning is roughly comparable to the preceding "hoch" or "pronounced"), rarely the forms with самый.
Verbs (глаголы)
Aspect (вид)
An essential characteristic is the importance of the aspect of an activity, which - to put it simply - expresses whether the focus of the description of the activity is on the activity itself ("unfinished", Russian несовершенный вид) or its completion ("completed", Russian. совершенный вид). There is no distinction between the English -ing -forms (unfinished) and the other forms (completed), since the conjugated perfect aspect in Russian often implies a future tense ( он это сделает - dt. He will have made it see он это делает - dt. he does it ). In the infinitive e.g. B. speak (unfinished) / say (complete) count as German analogy.
The accomplished aspect is formed:
- by adding a prefix to the verb in the unfinished aspect (e.g. делать (unfinished) - сделать (completed), German to do )
- through stem extension (e.g. понять (completed) - понимать (unfinished), German to understand )
- by using a completely different verb (e.g. брать (unfinished) - взять (completed), German to take )
Infinitive and present tense stem
In Russian (as in other Slavic languages ) the different forms of a verb can be described in a simplified manner if one thinks they are derived from two theoretical basic forms: the infinitive stem and the present stem. The Infintivstamm obtained usually by the ending of the infinitive -ть or -ти by parting. In some cases, however, the ending of the language-theoretical infinitive stem cannot be clearly read from the infinitive alone. For example, an infinitive ending in -с-ть or -с-ти can belong to an infinitive stem ending in -д- , -т- or -б- , e.g. B. грести / греб- (row). Infinitives with the ending -чь must also be considered separately (see below). The present tense is obtained when you speak of the 3rd person. Pl. Of the present tense (unvo.) Or the completed future (vo.) Delete the personal ending -ут / -ют or -ат / -ят (see below). In numerous verbs, the infinitive and present stems match, e.g. B. at делать (to do). It should also be noted that in addition to this traditional two-stem description of Russian verbs, there are also other concepts that use only one theoretically constructed verb stem to represent all verb forms using more or less complex rules of formation, e.g. B. пьй- zu пить (drink) [Jakobson 1948 u. a.].
I. From the infinitive stem are formed
- the infinitive
- the past tense
- the subjunctive
- the past participle
- the adverbial participle / gerund on -в (ши) , -ши .
II. Are formed from the present stem
- the present tense of unfinished verbs and the future tense of completed verbs
- The imperative
- the participles of the present tense
- the adverbial participle / gerund on -а , -я .
infinitive
The infinitive of Russian verbs is formed using the ending -ть or -ти , which is added to the infinitive stem . The following applies:
I. for vowel-ending infinitive stems
Formation of the infinitive by the ending -ть.
II. For consonantic infinitive stems
The formation of the infinitive is usually done with the ending -ти, sometimes with -ть .
If the final infinitive stem ends in -д / -т / -б, this consonant before -т- usually becomes -с-.
If the consonant ending infinitive stem ends in -г / -к, this consonant merges with the infinitive ending to -чь.
Conjugation in present and future
A distinction is made between two conjugations in the present tense and in the completed future tense, the 1st or e-conjugation and the 2nd or i-conjugation (named after the identifying vowels of the personal endings).
1. or e-conjugation
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st person | -у or -ю | -ем |
| 2nd person | -ешь | -ете |
| 3rd person | -ет | -ут or -ют |
Remarks:
- -у and -ут are based on a consonant for verbs with a present stem, -ю and -ют for verbs with a present stem stem on a vowel.
- If the ending is emphasized, ё stands for е: -ёшь, -ёт, -ём, -ёте.
- When conjugating verbs with the suffix -oва - / - ева- , this suffix is replaced by -у- in conjugation in all persons .
2. or i-conjugation
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st person | -ю or -у | -им |
| 2nd person | -ишь | -ите |
| 3rd person | -ит | -ят or -ат |
Remarks:
- -у and -ат are only used after sibilants (ч, щ, ш, ж) in the end of the present stem, otherwise never.
Rules of thumb for the division of verbs according to e- and i-conjugation
I. After the i-conjugation, the following is inflected:
- a) All verbs ending in -ить except брить, стелить, зиждиться, зыбиться, почить, бить, вить, лить, питя, ишити, гнить,., шити,
- b) 11 exception verbs on -ать and -еть: гнать, держать, слышать, дышать, смотреть, видеть, ненавидеть, терпеть, терпеть, всив всеть, обитеть
II. After the e-conjugation, the following are inflected:
- a) All other verbs (including брить, стелить, зиждиться, зыбиться, почить, бить, вить, лить, пить, шить, гнить, жить, ушибить, ошибиться )
Consonant change
When forming the present tense or the completed future tense, there is often a consonant change when the present stem ends in a consonant. This is done according to the following rules:
- г / д / з become ж
- к becomes ч
- т becomes ч or щ
- с / х become ш
- ск / ст become щ
- б / п / в / ф / м become бл / пл / вл / фл / мл, respectively
The consonant change occurs as follows:
- In the verbs of the i-conjugation it is only used in the 1st pers. Sg.
- In the verbs on -ать of the e-conjugation, it occurs in all persons in both the singular and the plural.
- The verbs ending in -чь in the 2nd and 3rd pers. Sg. And in the 1st and 2nd pers. Pl.
Irregular verbs
1. From the auxiliary verb быть (to be) used in the present only the forms of the 3rd Pers., But with суть is uncommon and есть only for constructions with the meaning have (s. U.) Is used. They were used more frequently earlier, around the 19th century, but are no longer used in modern Russian. The forms formed according to the pattern of the e-conjugation have a future tense meaning and are v. a. used to form the unfinished future tense (see below).
| Present | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st person | есмь | есмы |
| 2nd person | еси | есте |
| 3rd person | есть | суть |
| Future tense | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st person | я буду | мы будем |
| 2nd person | ты будешь | вы будете |
| 3rd person | он будет | они будут |
2. The main irregular verb is хотеть (want, like).
| хотеть (want, like) | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st person | я хочу | мы хотим |
| 2nd person | ты хочешь | вы хотите |
| 3rd person | он хочет | они хотят |
Present tense (настоящее время)
The unfinished aspect is the only form that can be used for the present tense. An unfinished verb that is conjugated in the present tense thus expresses current events. Что ты делаешь? - What are you doing now)?
Future tense (будущее время)
When a completed verb is conjugated in the present tense, it expresses a completed action in the future; H. Completed future tense , from (similar to the German future tense II):
Что ты сделаешь? - What are you going to do / do? (completed, in the sense of "having made")
In addition to this form of the simple future tense, there is also the compound form, which is formed using the conjugated verb быть = sein / werden and the infinitive of the unfinished verb - analogous to the German method of formation.
Что ты будешь делать? - What are you going to do? (unfinished)
Simple past (прошедшее время)
There is only one past tense called the past tense. Both aspects can be used for these as well, again distinguishing between a completed and an unfinished action depending on the verb form used.
The past tense only differentiates between the 1st, 2nd and 3rd person through the personal pronoun used, but a distinction is made between singular and plural and in the singular also between the genders. The past tense is usually formed by simply replacing the infinitive ending with -л (masculine), -ла (feminine), -ло (neuter), -ли (plural).
- unfinished:
я дела л / -ла / -ло = I did (male / female / neuter)
ты дела л / -ла / -ло = you did (male / female / neuter)
oн дела л = he did (male)
она дела ла = she made (female)
оно дела ло = it made (neuter)
мы дела ли = we made
вы дела ли = you made
они дела ли = they made
- completed:
я сдела л / -ла / -ло = I did (male / female / neuter)
... etc. (analogous to unfinished)
Perfect
In a relatively large number of Russian dialects (e.g. the Pskov and Novgorod dialects, the Belarusian variety of Russian, the Lipovan dialect - as opposed to the written language) there is also a series of perfect tempora with predicative transgressive forms (active) or impersonal participles (passive) are formed, e.g. B. отец уже пришедши (the father has already come), здесь у вилков хожено (wolves were walking around here).
Transitivity
As in many European languages, a distinction is made in Russian between transitive and intransitive verbs. This property is decisive for the formation of some participles.
Participles (причастия)
Participles have properties of both verbs and adjectives . There are four forms of participation in Russian:
- Present active participle: is formed from the unfinished verb form by inserting the suffix -ющ - / - ущ- or -ящ - / - ащ-.
- Present participle passive: by inserting -ем - / - им - / - ом-
- Past participle active: by inserting -вш - / - ш-
- Past participle passive: by inserting -нн- or -енн - / - ённ- or -т-. There is also a short form for PPP.
In addition, the Russian language has so-called adverbial participles (деепричастия), a part of speech that has features of verbs and adverbs . They are used for adverbial determinations in a sentence.
The verbs to be and have
The verb быть in the sense of “to be” is conjugated in Russian only in the past and the future. In the present tense it is simply left out today (except in some cases in the 3rd person Sg .: есть). So in the Russian present tense - as in the Arabic and Hebrew present tense and in many other languages - there is usually no copula : Я маленький - I (am) small.
The verb иметь is only used in the sense of the German “haben”, “haben” is usually translated using a special construction. Compare for example:
| Russian | Literally | German | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| У меня есть книга. | with me is a book | I have a book. |
I may or may not own it, but I have it with me. |
| У меня нет книги. | with me is-not the book | I do not have a book. |
Maybe I don't own a book or I don't have it with me (because I borrowed it). |
| Имею книгу. | I-own book. | I have a book. |
Maybe I don't have it with me even though I'm the owner. |
Numerals ([имена] числительные)
All numerals are declined, in congruence with the adjective and / or noun that follows them.
If a basic numeral is in the nominative or accusative (unless it is animate in the accusative), the following should be noted as an exception:
- a) The numbers два, три, четыре (two, three, four) are followed by an adjective in the genitive plural (if male or neuter, sometimes also female) or in the nominative plural (if female) and a noun in the genitive singular.
- b) the numbers пять, шесть… двадцать (five, six… twenty) are followed by an adjective or noun in the genitive plural.
The following applies to compound basic numbers:
- If the number ends in два, три, or четыре (e.g. двадцать два - twenty-two), then a) above always applies, this time even if the accusative is animate
- for the remaining composite numbers (except for those ending in один), b) above applies
In the case of indefinite numbers in the nominative (some, many, few, etc.), b) applies above.
If a counting word is placed after the associated noun, this corresponds to the indication "in about", "approximately" in German. For example:
- пять человек - five people
- человек пять - about five people
Sentence structure
negation
Negative propositions
In German, Latin or standard English, the mathematical rule “minus times minus equals plus” applies. For example, the phrase “I never see anyone.” Is not very elegant, but it clearly means that I always see someone.
The Russian negative sentence structure should be understood mathematically differently: If a Russian proposition is negative, negative adverbs, adjectives or pronouns should be used. The verb is even supposed to be made negative by the particle не. For example, “Никто никогда никому ничего не прощает” (literally “nobody never forgives nobody nothing”) simply means “nobody forgives nobody for free”. (In German “minus times minus times minus = minus” with none, none and for free as negative words).
“Yes”, “no” and “yes” in Russian
It is often found in lay literature that “yes” is “there”, “no” is “niet”. You can see that it could be wrong if the book says nothing about "yes". There is only да and нет in Russian for the three Germans yes , no and yet . Even the English speakers don't know a “yes”. But when a German speaker is talking to a Russian speaker in English, it is sometimes problematic because in Russian “but” is translated as “да”, when English translates it as “no”, and as “нет”, where English means “ yes “expected. The two tables below compare the solutions for the three languages German, Russian and English.
| German | Russian | English | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A says | It's raining | Идёт дождь | It's raining | |
| B answers |
Yes = it's raining |
Да = идёт дождь |
Yes = it's raining |
|
|
No = it's not raining |
Нет = дождь не идёт |
No = it's not raining |
| German | Russian | English | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A says | It is not raining | Дождь не идёт | It's not raining | |
| B answers |
No = it's not raining |
Да = дождь не идёт |
No = it's not raining |
|
|
Yes = it is raining |
Нет = дождь идёт |
Yes = it's raining |
See also
Web links
- Extensive Russian grammar in German
- Interactive On-line Reference Grammar of Russian
- Two-page overview of the declensions (adjectives, nouns, personal pronouns, possessive pronouns) - PDF (85 kB)
- Free grammar fact sheet for download (PDF) and in print form
- Russian verbs with conjugation tables and audio samples for learning and practicing
- Table with endings of the declension of nouns and adjectives according to case, number and gender - PDF (0.73 MB)
literature
- Ernst-Georg Kirschbaum: Grammar of the Russian language. Cornelsen, People and Knowledge, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-06-502230-9 .
- Siegfried Kohls (inter alia): Langenscheidt's standard grammar Russian . Langenscheidt, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-468-34938-6 .
- Volkmar Lehmann : Linguistics of Russian: Basics of the formal-functional description . Kubon & Sagner, Munich 2013, ISBN 3-86688-355-2 .
- Herbert Mulisch: Handbook of contemporary Russian language . 2nd Edition. Langenscheidt / Verlag Enzyklopädie, Leipzig 1996, ISBN 3-324-00325-3 .
- IM Pul'kina, JB Sachava-Nekrasova: Russian. Practical grammar with exercises . 5th improved edition. Verlag Otto Sagner, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-87690-610-5 .
- HC Валгина: Современный русский язык. Moscow 2002. (Electronic version)
- MT Баранов, Т. А. Костяева, А. В. Прудникова: Русский язык: Справ. материалы: Учебное пособие для учащихся. Moscow 1987.
- E. Tauscher, EG Kirschbaum: Grammar of the Russian language . Berlin 1958.
- Jakobson, Roman, Russian Conjugation , Word, Volume 4, No. 5, 1948, reprinted in Selected Writings, Vol. II, pp. 119–129, Den Haag / Paris 1971.
- B. Bendixen, H. Rothe, W. Voigt: Russian current, Der Leitfaden , Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden 2003, 2008 ISBN 978-3-447-04815-6 (DVD), ISBN 978-3-447-04816-3 ( Book and DVD)