Russian Grammar 1 Russian Grammar
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Russian grammar 1 Russian grammar Russian grammar (Russian: грамматика русского языка, IPA: [ɡrɐˈmatʲɪkə ˈruskəvə jɪzɨˈka]; also русская грамматика; IPA: [ˈruskəjə ɡrɐˈmatʲɪkə]) encompasses: • a highly inflexional morphology • a syntax that, for the literary language, is the conscious fusion of three elements: • a Church Slavonic inheritance; • a Western European style; • a polished vernacular foundation. The Russian language has preserved an Indo-European inflexional structure, although considerable adaption has taken place. The spoken language has been influenced by the literary one, but it continues to preserve some characteristic forms. Russian dialects show various non-standard grammatical features, some of which are archaisms or descendants of old forms discarded by the literary language. NOTE: In the discussion below, various terms are used in the meaning they have in standard Russian discussions of historical grammar. In particular, aorist, imperfect, etc. are considered verbal tenses rather than aspects, because ancient examples of them are attested for both perfective and imperfective verbs. Nouns Nominal declension is subject to six cases – nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, instrumental, and prepositional – in two numbers (singular and plural), and absolutely obeying grammatical gender (masculine, feminine, and neuter). Up to ten additional cases are identified in linguistics textbooks,[1][2][3] although all of them are either incomplete (do not apply to all nouns) or degenerate (appear identical to one of the six simple cases). The most recognized additional cases are locative (в лесу, в крови, в слезах), partitive (чаю, сахару, коньяку), and several forms of vocative (Господи, Боже, отче). The adjectives, pronouns, and the first two cardinal numbers further vary by gender. Old Russian also had a third number, the dual, but except for its use in the nominative and accusative cases with the numbers two, three and four, e.g. (два стула [dvɐ ˈstulə], "two chairs", recategorized today as a genitive singular), it has been lost. There are no definite or indefinite articles (such as the, a, an in English) in the Russian language. The sense of a noun is determined from the context in which it appears. That said, there are some means of expressing whether a noun is definite or indefinite. They are: 1. The use of a direct object in the genitive instead of the accusative in negation signifies that the noun is indefinite, compare: "Я не ви́жу кни́ги" ("I don't see a book" or "I don't see any book") and "Я не ви́жу кни́гу" ("I don't see the book"). 2. The use of the numeral one sometimes signifies that the noun is indefinite, e.g.: "Почему́ ты так до́лго?" - "Да так, встре́тил одного́ дру́га, пришло́сь поговори́ть" ("Why did it take you so long?" - "Well, I met a friend and had to talk"). 3. Word order may also be used for this purpose, compare "В ко́мнату вбежа́л ма́льчик" ("A boy rushed into the room") and "Ма́льчик вбежа́л в ко́мнату" ("The boy rushed into the room"). 4. The use of the plural form instead of the singular may signify that the noun is indefinite: "Вы ку́пите э́то в магази́нах." - "Вы ку́пите э́то в магази́не." ("You can buy this in a shop." lit. "...in shops" - "You can buy this in the shop.") The category of animacy is relevant in Russian nominal and adjectival declension. Specifically, the accusative form has two possible forms in many paradigms, depending on the animacy of the referent. For animate referents (people and animals), the accusative form is generally identical to the genitive form. For inanimate referents, the accusative Russian grammar 2 form is identical to the nominative form. This principle is relevant for masculine singular nouns of the first declension (see below) and adjectives, and for all plural paradigms (with no gender distinction). In the tables below, this behavior is indicated by the abbreviation "N or G" in the row corresponding to the accusative case. In Russian there are three declension types, named simply first, second, and third declensions. • The first declension (the second in Russian school grammars) is used for masculine and most neuter nouns. • The second declension (the first in school grammars) is used for feminine nouns ending by -а/-я (and several masculine nouns having the same form as those of feminine gender, such as па́па papa or дя́дя uncle). • The third declension is used for feminine nouns ending in ь. There are also several irregular "different-declension nouns" (Russian: разносклоняемые существительные): few neutral gender words ending -мя (e.g. время "time") and one masculine word путь "way". But these words in their forms have much enough similarity with female words of third declension, so some scholars like Litnevskaya[4] consider them to be another gender forms of this declension, like it's written in the tables below. Nouns ending on -ий, -ия, -ие (not to be mixed up with substantivated adjectives) are written with -ии instead of -ие in Prepositive (since this ending is never stressed, there is no difference in pronunciation): тече́ние - в ни́жнем тече́нии реки́ "streaming - in lower streaming of a river". But if words в течение and в продолжение are representing compound preposition meaning "while, during the time of", they are written with -е: в тече́ние ча́са "in a time of an hour". For nouns ending -ья, -ье, -ьё using -ьи in Prepositive (where endings of some of them are stressed) is usually erroneus, but in poetic speech it may be acceptable (as we replace -ии with -ьи for metric or rhyming purposes): Весь день она́ лежа́ла в забытьи́ (F. Tyutchev). First declension Most first-declension nouns are feminine, some masculine. The same endings apply for both genders. Singular Plural Nominative -а -я -ия -ы1 -и -ии Genitive -ы1 -и -ии - -ь -ий Dative -е -е -ии -ам -ям -иям Accusative -у -ю -ию N or G Instrumental -ой2 -ей3 -ией -ами -ями -иями Prepositional -е -е -ии -ах -ях -иях 1. After a sibilant or a velar (г, к, or х) consonant, и is written. 2. After a sibilant, о is written when stressed; е when unstressed. 3. After a soft consonant, ё is written when stressed; е when unstressed. Examples: рабо́та - a work/job, ба́ня - a bathhouse, кни́га - a book, ли́ния - a line Note: In Instrumental case of singular number you can also meet -ою and -ею endings instead of -ой and -ей. Russian grammar 3 Singular Plural Nominative рабо́та ба́ня кни́га ли́ния рабо́ты ба́ни кни́ги ли́нии Genitive рабо́ты ба́ни кни́ги ли́нии рабо́т ба́нь книг ли́ний Dative рабо́те ба́не кни́ге ли́нии рабо́там ба́ням кни́гам ли́ниям Accusative рабо́ту ба́ню кни́гу ли́нию рабо́ты ба́ни кни́ги ли́нии Instrumental рабо́той ба́ней кни́гой ли́нией рабо́тами ба́нями кни́гами ли́ниями Prepositional рабо́те ба́не кни́ге ли́нии рабо́тах ба́нях кни́гах ли́ниях Second declension - masculine nouns Nouns ending in a consonant are marked in the following table with - (thus no ending). Singular Plural Nominative - -ь -й -ий -ы1 -и -и -ии Genitive -а -я -я -ия -ов2 -ей -ев3 -иев Dative -у -ю -ю -ию -ам -ям -ям -иям Accusative N or G N or G Instrumental -ом -ем3 -ем3 -ием -ами -ями -ями -иями Prepositional -е -е -е -ии -ах -ях -ях -иях Notes: 1. After a sibilant (ж, ч, ш)[5] or a velar (г, к, or х) consonant, и is written. And а for some words (глаз — глаза, доктор — доктора, etc.). 2. After a sibilant, ей is written. 3. After a soft consonant, ё is written when stressed; е when unstressed. Examples фильм - a film/movie, писа́тель - a writer, геро́й - a hero, коммента́рий - a comment Singular Plural Nominative фи́льм писа́тель геро́й коммента́рий фи́льмы писа́тели геро́и коммента́рии Genitive фи́льма писа́теля геро́я коммента́рия фи́льмов писа́телей геро́ев коммента́риев Dative фи́льму писа́телю геро́ю коммента́рию фи́льмам писа́телям геро́ям коммента́риям Accusative фи́льм писа́теля геро́я коммента́рий фи́льмы писа́телей геро́ев коммента́рии Instrumental фи́льмом писа́телем геро́ем коммента́рием фи́льмами писа́телями геро́ями коммента́риями Prepositional фи́льме писа́теле геро́е коммента́рии фи́льмах писа́телях геро́ях коммента́риях Russian grammar 4 Second declension - virtually entirely neuter nouns5 Singular Plural Nominative -о1 -е2 -а -я Genitive -а -я - -й / -ей4 Dative -у -ю -ам -ям Accusative -о1 -е2 N or G Instrumental -ом1 -ем2 -ами -ями Prepositional -е -е3 -ах -ях 1. After a sibilant, о is written when stressed; е when unstressed. 2. After a soft consonant, ё is written when stressed; е when unstressed. 3. For nouns ending in ие in the nominative singular, и is written (but е when stressed — for the word остриё). 4. After a consonant use ей otherwise use й. 5. Also: some masculine nouns ending in -о in the nominative singular (доми́шко); the only masculine noun ending in -е in this declension (подмасте́рье). Examples ме́сто (n) – a place, мо́ре (n) – a sea, зда́ние (n) – a building Singular Plural Nominative ме́сто мо́ре зда́ние места́ моря́ зда́ния Genitive ме́ста мо́ря зда́ния мест море́й зда́ний Dative ме́сту мо́рю зда́нию места́м моря́м зда́ниям Accusative ме́сто мо́ре зда́ние места́ моря́ зда́ния Instrumental ме́стом мо́рем зда́нием места́ми моря́ми зда́ниями Prepositional ме́сте мо́ре зда́нии места́х моря́х зда́ниях Third declension Singular Plural Feminine Neuter Masculine Feminine Neuter Masculine Nominative -ь -мя / дитя́ путь -и -мена / де́ти пути Genitive -и -мени / дитяти пути́ -ей -мён(-мян) / дете́й путе́й Dative -и -мени / дитяти пути́ -ям1 -менам / де́тям путя́м Accusative -ь -мя / дитя́ путь N or G -мена / дете́й пути́ Instrumental -ью -менем / дитятей путём -я́ми1 (ьми́) -менами / детьми́ путями́ Prepositional -и -мени / дитяти пути́ -ях1 -менах / де́тях путя́х 1. After a sibilant, а is written. Examples: кость (f) – a bone, мышь (f) – a mouse, и́мя (n) – a name Russian grammar 5 Singular Plural Nominative ко́сть мы́шь и́мя ко́сти мы́ши имена́ Genitive ко́сти мы́ши и́мени косте́й мыше́й имён Dative ко́сти мы́ши и́мени костя́м мыша́м имена́м Accusative ко́сть мы́шь и́мя ко́сти мыше́й имена́ Instrumental ко́стью мы́шью и́менем костя́ми мыша́ми имена́ми Prepositional ко́сти мы́ши и́мени костя́х мыша́х имена́х Irregular forms of plural There are various kinds of irregularities in forming the plural.