Russian grammar

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Russian grammar encompasses:

• a highly synthetic 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 synthetic-inflexional structure, although considerable levelling has taken place.

The spoken language has been influenced by the literary, but continues to preserve characteristic forms. The dialects show various non-standard grammatical features, some of which are archaisms or descendants of old forms since discarded by the literary language.

NOTE: In the discussion below, various terms are used in the meaning they have in the 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.

Contents 1 Nouns 1.1 First declension - masculine nouns 1.2 First declension - neuter nouns 1.3 Second declension - feminine nouns (primarily) 1.4 Third declension 2 Adjectives 2.1 Declension 3 Pronouns 3.1 Personal pronouns 3.2 Demonstrative pronouns 3.3 Possessive pronouns 3.4 Interrogative pronouns 4 Numbers 5 Verbs 5.1 Present-future tense 5.2 Past tense 5.3 Examples 5.3.1 First conjugation 5.3.2 Second conjugation 5.3.3 Irregular verbs 6 Word formation 7 Syntax 7.1 Negation 7.2 Coordination 7.3 Subordination 7.4 Absolute construction 8 References 9 See also 10 External links

[edit] Nouns

Nominal declension is subject to six cases (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, prepositional, and instrumental), in two numbers (singular and plural), and obeying absolutely 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 well-recognized additional cases are locative (в лесу, в крови, в слезах), partitive (сапог, чулок, вольт), and several forms of vocative (господи, деда, батянь). 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, eg. (два стула [dvɐ ˈstulə], "two chairs", recategorized today as a genitive singular), it has been lost.

There are no definite or indefinite articles 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 вижу книги" ("I don't see a book" or "I don't see any book") and "Я не вижу книгу" ("I don't see the book").
2. The use of the numeral one sometimes signifies that the noun is indefinite, e.g.: "Почему ты так долго?" - "Да так, встретил одного друга, пришлось поговорить" ("Why did it take you so long?" - "You see, I met a friend and had to talk").
3. Word order may also be used for this purpose, compare "В комнату вбежал мальчик" ("A boy rushed into the room") and "Мальчик вбежал в комнату" ("The boy rushed into the room").

The category of animacy is relevant in Russian nominal and adjectival declension. Specifically, the accusative form in many paradigms has two possible forms depending on the animacy of the referent. For animate referents (people and animals), the accusative form is identical to the genitive form. For inanimate referents, the accusative 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 most feminine nouns. The third declension is used for feminine nouns ending in ь and for neuter nouns ending in мя.

[edit] First 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
Accusative	N or G					N or G
Genitive	-а	-я	-я	-ия		-ов2	-ей	-ев3	-иев
Dative	-у	-ю	-ю	-ию		-ам	-ям	-ям	-иям
Prepositional	-е	-е	-е	-ии		-ах	-ях	-ях	-иях
Instrumental	-ом	-ем3	-ем3	-ием		-ами	-ями	-ями	-иями

Notes:

1. After a sibilant (ж, ч, ш, or щ) or a velar (г, к, or х) consonant, и is written.
2. After a sibilant, ей is written.
3. After a soft consonant, ё is written when stressed; е when unstressed.

[edit] First declension - neuter nouns

	Singular			Plural
Nominative	-о1	-е2		-а	-я
Accusative	-о1	-е2		N or G
Genitive	-а	-я		-	-й / -ь4
Dative	-у	-ю		-ам	-ям
Prepositional	-е	-е3		-ах	-ях
Instrumental	-ом1	-ем2		-ами	-ями

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.
4. After a consonant use ь otherwise use й.

[edit] Second declension - feminine nouns (primarily)

	Singular				Plural
Nominative	-а	-я	-ия		-ы1	-и	-ии
Accusative	-у	-ю	-ию		N1 or G
Genitive	-ы1	-и	-ии		-	-ь	-ий
Dative	-е	-е	-ии		-ам	-ям	-иям
Prepositional	-е	-е	-ии		-ах	-ях	-иях
Instrumental	-ой2	-ей3	-ией		-ами	-ями	-иями

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.

[edit] Third declension

	Singular			Plural
	Feminine	Neuter		Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	-ь	-мя		-и	-мена
Accusative	-ь	-мя		N or G	-мена
Genitive	-и	-мени		-ей	-мён
Dative	-и	-мени		-ям	-менам
Prepositional	-и	-мени		-ях	-менах
Instrumental	-ью	-менем		-ями	-менами

[edit] Adjectives

Russian adjectives agree with the nouns they modify in gender, number, and case.

[edit] Declension

	Singular				Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	-ый	-ая	-ое		-ые
Accusative	N or G	-ую	-ое		N or G
Genitive	-ого	-ой	-ого		-ых
Dative	-ому	-ой	-ому		-ым
Prepositional	-ом	-ой	-ом		-ых
Instrumental	-ым	-ой	-ым		-ыми

1. After a sibilant or velar consonant, и, instead of ы, is written.
2. When a masculine adjectives ends in -ой, the -ой is stressed

Russian differentiates between hard-stem (as above) and soft-stem adjectives. Note the following:

• Masculine adjectives ending in the nominative in ий and neuters in ее are declined as follows: его, ему, им, and ем.
• Feminine adjectives in яя are declined ей and юю.
• Plural adjectives in ие are declined их, им, ими and их.

[edit] Pronouns

[edit] Personal pronouns

	Singular					Plural
	1st	2nd	3rd			1st	2nd	3rd
			Masc.	Fem.	Neut.
(English)	I	you (singular)	he	she	it	we	you (plural)	they
Nominative	я	ты	он	она́	оно́	мы	вы	они́
Accusative	меня́	тебя́	его́	её	его́	нас	вас	их
Genitive	меня́	тебя́	его́	её	его́	нас	вас	их
Dative	мне	тебе́	ему́	ей	ему́	нам	вам	им
Prepositional	обо мне	о тебе́	о нём	о ней	о нём	о наc	о вас	о них
Instrumental	мной	тобой́	им	ей	им	на́ми	ва́ми	и́ми

• Russian is subject to T-V distinction. The respectful form of the singular you is the same as the plural form, but beginning with a capital letter: Вы, Вас, Вам etc. Compare the distinction between du, sie and Sie in German.
• When a preposition is used directly before a 3rd-person pronoun, н- is prefixed: у него, с неё, etc. Because the prepositional case always occurs after a preposition, the third person prepositional always starts with an н-.

[edit] Demonstrative pronouns

этот "this" and тот "that"

	masculine	neuter	feminine	plural		masculine	neuter	feminine	plural
Nominative	э́тот	это	э́та	э́ти		тот	то	та	те
Accusative	N or G	э́то	э́ту	N or G		N or G	то	ту	N or G
Genitive	э́того	э́того	э́той	э́тих		того́	того́	той	тех
Dative	э́тому	э́тому	э́той	э́тим		тому́	тому́	той	тем
Prepositional	об э́том	об э́том	об э́той	об э́тих		о том	о том	о той	о тех
Instrumental	э́тим	э́тим	э́той	э́тими		тем	тем	той	те́ми

[edit] Possessive pronouns

мой "my" and твой "your (sing.)"

	masculine	neuter	feminine	plural		masculine	neuter	feminine	plural
Nominative	мой	моё	моя	мои		твой	твоё	твоя	твои
Accusative	N or G	моё	мою	N or G		N or G	твоё	твою	N or G
Genitive	моего	моего	моей	моих		твоего	твоего	твоей	твоих
Dative	моему	моему	моей	моим		твоему	твоему	твоей	твоим
Prepositional	о моём	о моём	о моей	о моих		о твоём	о твоём	о твоей	о твоих
Instrumental	моим	моим	моей	моими		твоим	твоим	твоей	твоими

наш "our" and ваш "your (plur.)"

	masculine	neuter	feminine	plural		masculine	neuter	feminine	plural
Nominative	наш	наше	наша	наши		ваш	ваше	ваша	ваши
Accusative	N or G	наше	нашу	N or G		N or G	ваше	вашу	N or G
Genitive	нашего	нашего	нашей	наших		вашего	вашего	вашей	ваших
Dative	нашему	нашему	нашей	нашим		вашему	вашему	вашей	вашим
Prepositional	о нашем	о нашем	о нашей	о наших		о вашем	о вашем	о вашей	о ваших
Instrumental	нашим	нашим	нашей	нашими		вашим	вашим	вашей	вашими

• The third person possessive pronouns его (masc./neut. sing.), её (fem. sing.) and их (plural) are invariant genitive forms.

[edit] Interrogative pronouns

кто "who" and что "what"

	кто	что
Nominative	кто	что
Accusative	кого	что
Genitive	кого	чего
Dative	кому	чему
Prepositional	о ком	о чём
Instrumental	кем	чем

чей "whose"

	masculine	neuter	feminine	plural
Nominative	чей	чьё	чья	чьи
Accusative	N or G	чьё	чью	N or G
Genitive	чьего	чьего	чьей	чьих
Dative	чьему	чьему	чьей	чьим
Prepositional	о чьём	о чьём	о чьей	о чьих
Instrumental	чьим	чьим	чьей	чьими

[edit] Numbers

Cardinal Numbers

• 0 ноль or нуль
• 1 один одна одно (раз is used when counting)
• 2 два (m., n.), две (f.)
• 3 три
• 4 четыре
• 5 пять
• 6 шесть
• 7 семь
• 8 восемь
• 9 девять
• 10 десять

Ordinal Numbers Nominative case, masculine.

• 1st первый
• 2nd второй
• 3rd третий
• 4th четвëртый
• 5th пятый
• 6th шестой
• 7th седьмой
• 8th восьмой
• 9th девятый
• 10th десятый

[edit] Verbs

Main article: Russian Verbs

Grammatical conjugation is subject to three persons in two numbers and two simple tenses (present/future and past), with periphrastic forms for the future and subjunctive, as well as imperative forms and present/past participles, distinguished by adjectival and adverbial usage (see adjectival participle and adverbial participle). There are two voices, active and middle/passive, which is constructed by the addition of a reflexive suffix -ся/сь/- to the active form. An interesting feature is that the past tense is actually made to agree in gender with the subject, for it is the participle in an originally periphrastic perfect tense formed with the present of быть [bɨtʲ] (like the perfect passive tense in Latin), "to be", which is now omitted except for rare archaic effect, usually in set phrases (откуда есть пошла русская земля [ɐˈtkudə jesʲtʲ pɐˈʂla ˈruskəjə zʲɪˈmlʲa], "whence is come the Russian land", the opening of the Primary Chronicle in modern spelling). Verbal inflection today is considerably simpler than in Old Russian. The ancient aorist, imperfect, and (periphrastic) pluperfect tenses have been lost, though the aorist sporadically occurs in secular literature as late as the second half of the eighteenth century, and survives as an odd form in direct narration (а он пойди да скажи [ɐ on pɐjˈdʲi də skɐˈʐɨ], etc., exactly equivalent to the English colloquial "so he goes and says"), recategorized as a usage of the imperative. The loss of three of the former six tenses has been offset by the development, as in other Slavic languages, of verbal aspect. Most verbs come in pairs, one with imperfective or continuous connotation, the other with perfective or completed, usually formed with a (prepositional) prefix, but occasionally using a different root. E.g., спать [spatʲ] (to sleep) is imperfective; поспать [pɐˈspatʲ](to take a nap) is perfective.

The present tense of the verb быть is today normally used only in the third-person singular form, which is often used for all the persons and numbers. As late as the nineteenth century, the full conjugation, which today is never used, was somewhat more natural: forms occur in the Synodal Bible, in Dostoevsky and in the bylinas (былины [bɨˈlʲinɨ]) or oral folk-epics, which were transcribed at that time. The paradigm shows as well as anything else the Indo-European affinity of Russian:

English	Russian	IPA	Latin	Classical Greek
"I am"	(есмь)	[jesʲmʲ]	sum	eimi
"you are" (sing.)	(еси)	[ˈjesʲɪ]	es	ei
"he, she, it is"	есть	[jesʲtʲ]	est	esti
"we are"	(есмы)	[ˈjɛsmɨ]	sumus	esmen
"you are" (plur.)	(есте)	[jesʲtʲe]	estis	este
"they are"	суть	[sutʲ]	sunt	eisi

[edit] Present-future tense

There are two forms used to conjugate the present tense of imperfective verbs and the future tense of perfective verbs.

The first conjugation (I) is used in verb stems ending in a consonant, -у, or -о, or in -а when not preceded by a sibilant:

• -у/-ю, -ешь, -ет, -ем, -ете, -ут/-ют
  • -у/-ут is used after a hard consonant, a vowel or ш, щ or ч; otherwise -ю/-ют is used.
  • A mutating ultimate consonant may cause ending change.
  • е becomes ё when stressed.

The second conjugation (II) is used in verb stems ending in -и or -е, or in -а when preceded by a sibilant:

• -у/-ю, -ишь, -ит, -им, -ите, -ат/ят
  • -у/-ат is used after a hard consonant, a vowel or ш, щ or ч; otherwise -ю/-ят is used.
  • Similar to the conjugation I, a mutating ultimate consonant may change an ending.
    Example: попро-сить — попро-шу, попро-сят [pəprɐˈsʲitʲ, pəprɐˈʂu, pɐˈprosʲɪt] (to have solicited — [I, they] will have solicited).

[edit] Past tense

The Russian past tense is gender specific: –л for masculine singular subjects, –ла for feminine singular subjects, –ло for neuter singular subjects, and –ли for plural subjects. This gender specificity applies to all persons; thus, to say "I slept", a male speaker would say я спал, while a female speaker would say я спала.

[edit] Examples

[edit] First conjugation

вернуть — to return [something] (stem: верн–)

я верну	I will return
ты вернёшь	you will return
он, она, оно вернёт	he, she, it will return
мы вернём	we will return
вы вернёте	you will return
они вернут	they will return

читать — to read (stem: чита–)

я читаю	I read (am reading, do read)
ты читаешь	you read (are reading, do read)
он, она, оно читает	he, she, it reads (is reading, does read)
мы читаем	we read (are reading, do read)
вы читаете	you (plural/formal) read (are reading, do read)
они читают	they read (are reading, do read)

[edit] Second conjugation

говорить — to speak (stem: говор–)

я говорю	I speak (am speaking, do speak)
ты говоришь	you speak (are speaking, do speak)
он, она, оно говорит	he, she, it speaks (is speaking, does speak)
мы говорим	we speak (are speaking, do speak)
вы говорите	you (plural/formal) speak (are speaking, do speak)
они говорят	they speak (are speaking, do speak)

[edit] Irregular verbs

The following verbs have a stem change. The stem part of the verb is in the parentheses. The endings are regular.

брать (бер–) — to take

беру, берёшь, берёт, берём ,берёте, берут

вести (вед–) — to lead

веду, ведёшь, ведёт, ведём, ведёте, ведут

жить (жив–) — to live

живу, живёшь, живёт, живём, живёте, живут

звать (зов–) — to call

зову, зовёшь, зовёт, зовём, зовёте, зовут

давать (да–) — to give

даю, даёшь, даёт, даём, даёте, дают

идти (ид–) — to go

иду, идёшь, идёт, идём, идёте, идут

писать (пиш-) — to write (notice the с becomes a ш)

пишу, пишешь, пишет, пишем, пишете, пишут

The following verbs endings do not conform to the first or second conjugations.

дать — to give

дам, дашь, даст, дадим, дадите, дадут

есть — to eat

ем, ешь, ест, едим, едите, едят

The following verbs are irregular in the first person. Notice the д becomes ж in the first person. This is a common irregularity on stems ending with д.

ходить (ход–) — to walk

хожу, ходишь, ходит, ходим, ходите, ходят

ездить (езд–) — to travel

езжу, ездишь, ездит, ездим, ездите, ездят

видеть (вид–) — to see

вижу, видишь, видит, видим, видите, видят

[edit] Word formation

Russian has on hand a set of prefixes, prepositional and adverbial in nature, as well as diminutive, augmentative, and frequentative suffixes and infixes. All of these can be stacked one upon the other, to produce multiple derivatives of a given word. Participles and other inflexional forms may also have a special connotation. For example:

мысль	[mɨsʲlʲ]	"thought"
мыслишка	[mɨˈsʲlʲiʂkə]	"a petty, cute or a silly thought"
мыслища	[mɨˈsʲlʲiɕːə]	"a thought of fundamental import"
мышление	[mɨˈʂlʲenʲɪjɪ]	"thought; abstract thinking, ratiocination"
мыслить	[ˈmɨsʲlʲɪtʲ]	"to think (as to cogitate)"
смысл	[smɨsl]	"meaning"
осмыслить	[ɐˈsmɨsʲlʲɪtʲ]	"to comprehend; to rationalize"
переосмыслить	[pʲɪrʲɪɐˈsmɨsʲlʲɪtʲ]	"to reassess"
переосмысливать	[pʲɪrʲɪɐˈsmɨsʲlʲɪvətʲ]	"to be in the process of reassessing (something)"
переосмысливаемый	[pʲɪrʲɪɐˈsmɨsʲlʲɪvəjɪmɨj]	"(something) in the process of being considered in a new light"
бессмыслица	[bʲɪˈsmɨsʲlʲɪtsə]	"nonsense"
обессмыслить	[əbʲɪˈsmɨsʲlʲɪtʲ]	"to render meaningless"
бессмысленный	[bʲɪˈsmɨsʲlʲɪnːɨj]	"meaningless"
обессмысленный	[əbʲɪˈsmɨsʲlʲɪnːɨj]	"rendered meaningless"
необессмысленный	[nʲɪəbʲɪˈsmɨsʲlʲɪnːɨj]	"not rendered meaningless"

Russian has also proved friendly to agglutinative compounds. As an extreme case:

металлоломообеспечение	[mʲɪtəlɐˌlomɐɐbʲɪˈsʲpʲeʨɪnʲjɪ]	"provision of scrap iron"
металлоломообеспеченный	[mʲɪtəlɐˌlomɐɐbʲɪˈsʲpʲeʨɪnːɨj]	"well supplied with scrap iron"

Purists (as Dmitry Ushakov in the preface to his dictionary) frown on such words. But here is the name of a street in St. Petersburg:

Каменноостровский проспект

[ˌkamʲɪnːɐˈɐstrəvskʲɪj prɐˈsʲpʲɛkt]

"Stone Island Avenue"

Some linguists have suggested that Russian agglutination stems from Church Slavonic. In the twentieth century, abbreviated components appeared in the compound:

управдом

[uprɐˈvdom]=управляющий домом

[uprɐˈvlʲajuɕːɪj ˈdoməm]

"residence manager"

[edit] Syntax

The basic word order, both in conversation and the written language, is Subject Verb Object in transitive clauses, and free word order in intransitive clauses. However, because the relations are marked by inflection, considerable latitude in word order is allowed even in transitive clauses, and all the permutations can be used. For example, the words in the phrase "я пошёл в магазин" (I went to the shop) can be arranged

• Я пошёл в магазин.
• Я в магазин пошёл.
• Пошёл я в магазин.
• Пошёл в магазин я.
• В магазин я пошёл.
• В магазин пошёл я.

while maintaining grammatical correctness.

The word order expresses the logical stress, and the degree of definiteness. Primary emphasis tends to be initial, with a slightly weaker emphasis at the end. (See Syntactic and Paratactic Word Order Effects for a theoretical treatment.)

[edit] Negation

Like most other languages but unlike English, multiple negatives are compulsory in Russian, as in никто никогда никому ничего не прощает [nʲɪˈkto nʲɪkɐˈgda nʲɪkɐˈmu nʲɪʨɪˈvo nʲɪ prɐˈɕːajɪt] "No-one ever forgives anyone for anything" (literally, "no-one never to no-one nothing does not forgive").

[edit] Coordination

The most common types of coordination expressed by compound sentences in Russian are conjoining (Соединительные отношения), oppositional (Противительные отношения), and separative (Разделительные отношения). Additionally, the Russian grammar considers comparative (сопоставительные), complemental (присоединительные), and clarifying (пояснительные). Other flavors of the meanings may also be distinguished.

Conjoining coordinations are formed with the help of the conjunctions "и", "да", "ни...ни" (simultaneous negation), также, тоже (the latter two have complemental flavor). Most commonly the conjoining coordination expresses enumeration, simultaneity or immediate sequence. They may also have a cause-effect flavor.

Oppositional coordinations are formed with the help of the oppositional conjunctions а, но, да, однако, зато, же, etc. They express the semantic relations of opposition, comparison, incompatibility, restriction, or compensation.

Separative coordinations are formed with the help of the separative conjunctions или, либо, ли...ли, то...то, etc., and are used to express alternation or incompatibility of things expressed in the coordinated sentences.

Complemental and clarifying coordination expresses additional, but not subordinated, information related to the first sentence.

Comparative coordination is a semantical flavor of the oppositional one.

Common coordinating conjunctions include:

• и [i] "and", enumerative, complemental;
• а [a] "and", comparative, tending to "but";
• но [no] "but", oppositional;
• ибо [ˈibə] "for", clarifying.

The distinction between и and а is important. И implies a following complemental state that does not oppose the antecedent. А implies a following state that acts in opposition to the antecedent, but more weakly than но "but".

они уехали, и мы уезжаем	[ɐˈnʲi uˈjɛxəlʲɪ] [ɪ ˈmɨ ujɪˈʑːajɪm]	they have departed and we are departing
они уехали, а мы уезжаем	[ɐˈnʲi uˈjɛxəlʲɪ] [ɐ ˈmɨ ujɪˈʑːajɪm]	they have departed, while (but) we are (still) departing
они уехали, но мы приезжаем	[ɐˈnʲi uˈjɛxəlʲɪ] [nɐ ˈmɨ prʲɪjɪˈʑːajɪm]	they have departed, but we are arriving

The distinction between и and а developed after the medieval period; originally, и and а were closer in meaning. The unpunctuated ending of the Song of Igor illustrates the potential confusion. The final five words in modern spelling, князьям слава а дружине аминь [knʲɐˈzʲjam ˈslavə ə druˈʐɨnʲɪ ɐˈmʲinʲ] can be understood either as "Glory to the princes and to their host! Amen." or "Glory to the princes, and amen (R.I.P.) to their troops". Although majority opinion is definitely with the first interpretation, there is no full consensus. The psychological difference between the two is quite obvious.

[edit] Subordination

Complementizers (subordinating conjunctions, adverbs, or adverbial phrases) include:

• если [ˈjesʲlʲɪ] if;
• потому что [pətɐˈmu ʂtə], так как [tak kak] because
• чтобы [ˈʂtobɨ] in order to
• после того, как [ˈposʲlʲɪ tɐˈvo kək] after
• хотя [xɐˈtʲa] although

In general, there are fewer subordinate clauses than in English, because the participles (причастие [prʲɪˈʨasʲtʲɪjɪ]) and adverbial participles (деепричастие [dʲɪjɪprʲɪˈʨasʲtʲɪjɪ]) often take the place of a relative pronoun/verb combination. For example:

Вот человек, потерявший надежду.	[vot ʨɪlɐˈvʲɛk] [pətʲɪˈrʲavʂɨj nɐˈdʲɛʐdu]	Here (is) a man who has lost (all) hope. [lit. having lost hope]
Гуляя по городу, всегда останавливаюсь у Ростральных колонн.	[guˈlʲajɪ pɐ ˈgorədu vsʲɪgˈda] [əstɐˈnavlʲɪvəjusʲ u rɐˈstralʲnɨx [kɐˈlon]	When I go for a walk in the city, I always pause by the Rostral Columns. [lit. Walking in the city, I...]

[edit] Absolute construction

Despite the inflexional nature of Russian there is no equivalent in the modern language to the English nominative absolute or the Latin ablative absolute construction. The old language had an absolute construction, with the noun put into the dative. Like so many other archaisms, it is retained in Church Slavonic. Among the last known examples in literary Russian occurs in Radishchev's Journey from Petersburg to Moscow (Путешествие из Петербурга в Москву [putʲɪˈʂɛstvʲɪjɪ ɪs pʲɪtʲɪrˈburgə v mɐˈskvu]), 1790:

• Едущу мне из Едрова, Анюта из мысли моей не выходила. [ˈjeduɕːu mnʲe ɪzʲ jɪˈdrovə, ɐˈnʲutə ɪz ˈmɨsʲlʲɪ mɐˈjej nʲɪ vɨxɐˈdʲilə] "As I was leaving Yedrovo village, I could not stop thinking about Aniuta."

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• List of Russian language topics
• Reduplication in Russian language

[edit] External links

• Interactive On-line Reference Grammar of Russian
• Wikibooks Russian
• Gramota.ru - dictionaries
• Russian grammar overview with practice tests

v • d • e Russian language History · Orthography · Alphabet · Grammar · Phonology