Russian grammar

The Russian language has preserved an Indo-European inflexional structure, although considerable adaptation has taken place.

Russian has a highly inflexional morphology, particularly in nominals (nouns, pronouns, adjectives and numerals). The Russian literary syntax is a combination of a Church Slavonic
heritage, a variety of loaned and adopted constructs, and a standardizedvernacular foundation.

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.

Contents
Nouns
First declension
Masculine nouns
Neuter nouns
Second declension
Feminine nouns with a small set of masculine nouns
Third declension
Feminine and some masculine nouns
A small set of neuter nouns
Indeclinable nouns
Rare minor cases
Adjectives
Adjectival declension
Comparison of adjectives
Possessive adjectives
Pronouns
Personal pronouns
Demonstrative pronouns
Possessive adjectives and pronouns
Interrogative pronouns
Numerals
Verbs
Infinitive
Present-future tense
Examples
Past tense
Examples
Exceptions
Moods
Imperative mood
Conditional mood
Verbs of motion
Unprefixed verbs of motion
Directionality
Unidirectional perfectives with по-
Going versus taking
Prefixed verbs of motion
Idiomatic uses
Adjectival participle
Active present participle
Active present participle declension
Reflexive verbs paradigm
Active past participle
Active past participle declension
Reflexive verbs paradigm
Passive present participle
Passive past participle
Adverbial participle
Irregular verbs
Agglutinating compounds
Word formation
Syntax
Impersonal sentences
Negation
 Multiple Negatives
Adverbial answers
Coordination
Subordination
Absolute construction
See also
Notes
References
External links

Nouns
Nominal declension is subject to six cases – nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, instrumental, and prepositional – in two numbers (singular and plural), and absolutely obeying
[1][2][3] although all of them are either incomplete – do not apply
grammatical gender (masculine, feminine, and neuter). Up to ten additional cases are identified in linguistics textbooks,
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, the pronouns, and the first two cardinal numbers vary further by gender. Old Russian also had a third
number, the dual, but it has been lost 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", now
reanalyzed as genitive singular).

More often than in many other Indo-European languages, Russian noun cases may supplant the use of prepositions entirely.[4] Furthermore, every preposition is assigned to a particular
[5]
case to use with. Their usage can be summarised as:

nominative:

main subject;
default case to use outside sentences (dictionary entries, signs, etc.);
prepositions: за '(what) kind of?'; в: 'join the ranks of' (with pl. noun only);
accusative:

direct object;
some time expressions;
prepositions indicating motion:в 'in(wards)', на 'on (top of)', за 'behind', под 'under';
other prepositions: про 'about', через 'over', сквозь 'through';
genitive:

possession – 'of' (genitive noun);

numerals and quantifiers;
negated verbs (which take direct objects in Accusative) to indicate total absence;
some time expressions;
prepositions: без 'without', вместо 'instead', возле 'near', вокруг 'around', впереди 'ahead of', для 'for', до 'before', из 'from', из-за 'from behind', кроме
'except for', мимо 'past by', около 'near', после 'after', против 'against', среди 'among', у 'by', близ 'near', вдоль 'along', вне 'outside', внутри 'inside';
verbs: бояться 'afraid of', ждать 'wait for', искать 'search for';
adjectives: полный 'full of' (genitive noun);
dative:

indirect object – 'to' (dative noun);

some time expressions;
impersonal clauses: мне холодно – 'I am cold', lit. "to_me (is) cold";
age statements: мне двадцать лет – 'I am 20 (years old)', lit. 'to_me (is) 20 years';
prepositions: по 'on', к 'to(wards)', благодаря 'thanks to';
auxiliaries: нужно or надо 'need/must (to)', можно 'allowed', нельзя 'forbidden';
verbs: верить 'believe', помочь 'help', советовать 'advice', звонить 'call', удивить(ся) 'amaze (self)';
instrumental:

instrument used in the action or means by which action is carried out – 'by' (I. noun);
logical subject of passive clause:письмо написано Иваном – 'the letter was written by Ivan';
secondary direct object:его считают студентом – 'he is considered (to be) a student';
durational time expressions;
verbs: интересовать(ся) 'interest (to be interested in)',пользоваться 'use', занимать(ся) 'occupy (to be preoccupied with)';
associates of connective verbs:быть 'be', стать 'became', остаться 'remain', казаться 'appear to be', оказаться 'turn out to be';
prepositions of position:за 'behind', перед 'in front of', над 'above', под 'below', между 'between', (вместе) с '(together) with';
adjective: довольный 'pleased by';
prepositional

prepositions of place: в 'inside', на 'on (top of)';

other prepositions: о 'about', при 'by/of/with';

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:

Я не ви́ жу кни́ ги ("I don't see a book"

The use of a direct object in the genitive instead of the accusative in negation signifies that the noun is indefinite, compare:
or "I don't see any books") andЯ не ви́ жу кни́ гу ("I don't see the book").
The use of the numeral one sometimes signifies that the noun is indefinite, e.g.:Почему́ ты так до́ лго? – Да так, встре́ тил одного́ дру́ га, пришло́ сь
поговори́ ть ("Why did it take you so long?" – "Well, I met one [=a] friend and had to talk").
Word order may also be used for this purpose; compare В ко́ мнату вбежа́ л ма́ льчик ("Into the room rushed a boy") andМа́ льчик вбежа́ л в ко́ мнату ("The
boy rushed into the room").
 The plural form may signify indefiniteness:Вы мо́ жете купи́ ть э́ то в магази́ нах ("You can buy this in shops") vs.Вы мо́ жете купи́ ть э́ то в магази́ не ("You
can buy this in the shop").
The category of animacy is relevant in Russian nominal and adjectival declension.[6] Specifically, the accusative has two possible forms in many paradigms, depending on the animacy
of the referent. For animate referents (persons and animals), the accusative form is generally 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 second declension (see below) and adjectives, and for all plural paradigms (with no gender
distinction). In the tables below, this behavior is indicated by the abbreviationN or G in the row corresponding to the accusative case.

In Russian there are three declensions:[7]

The first declension is used for most masculine and neuter nouns.
The second declension is used for feminine nouns ending with-а/-я and some masculine nouns having the same form as those of feminine gender , such as па́ па
papa or дя́ дя uncle; also, there are common-gender nouns likeзади́ ра tease that are masculine or feminine depending on the person to which they refer
.
The third declension is used for feminine nouns ending inь.
There is also a group of several irregular "different-declension nouns" (Russian: разносклоняемые существительные), consisting of a few neuter nouns ending in -мя (e.g. время
"time") and one masculine noun путь "way". However, these nouns and their forms have sufficient similarity with feminine third declension nouns that some scholars such as
Litnevskaya[8] consider them to be non-feminine forms of this declension, as written in the tables below
.

Nouns ending with -ий, -ия, -ие (not to be confused with substantivated adjectives) are written with -ии instead of -ие in Prepositional (as this ending is never stressed, there is no
difference in pronunciation): тече́ ние – в ни́ жнем тече́ нии реки́ "streaming – in lower streaming of a river". But if words в течение and в продолжение are representing a
compound preposition meaning – "while, during the time of" – they are written with -е: в тече́ ние ча́ са "in a time of an hour". For nouns ending in -ья, -ье, or -ьё, using -ьи in the
Prepositional (where endings of some of them are stressed) is usually erroneous, but in poetic speech it may be acceptable (as we replace -ии with -ьи for metric or rhyming purposes):
Весь день она́ лежа́ ла в забытьи́ (Fyodor Tyutchev).

First declension

Masculine nouns

singular plural

nominative ∅ -ь, -й, -ий, +ин-∅ -ы -и, -и, -ии, -е

accusative N or G

genitive -а -я, -я, -ия, +ин-а -ов -ей, -ев, -иев, -∅

dative -у -ю, -ю, -ию, +ин-у -ам -ям, -ям, -иям, -ам
instrumental -ом -ем, -ем, -ием, +ин-ом -ами -ями, -ями, -иями, -ами
prepositional -е -е, -е, -ии, +ин-е -ах -ях, -ях, -иях, -ах

Some singular nouns denoting groups of people may include-ин- suffix before ending.

Neuter nouns

singular plural

nominative -а -я
-о -е
accusative N or G

-а -я
genitive ∅ -й, -ей
dative -у -ю -ам -ям
instrumental -ом -ем -ами -ями
prepositional -е -е -ах -ях

Second declension

Feminine nouns with a small set of masculine nouns

singular plural

nominative -а -я, -ия -ы -и, -ии

accusative -у -ю, -ию N or G

-ы -и, -ии
genitive ∅ -ь, -ий
dative -е -е, -ии -ам -ям, -иям
instrumental -ой -ей, -ией -ами -ями, -иями
prepositional -е -е, -ии -ах -ях, -иях

Third declension
The third declension is mostly for feminine nouns with some masculine and neuter
.

Feminine and some masculine nouns

singular plural

nominative -и
-ь
accusative N or G -и

genitive -ей
-и
dative -ям
instrumental -ью -ём -ями -я́ ми
prepositional -и -ах

A small set of neuter nouns

singular plural
nominative
-я -ена́ -ёна
accusative

genitive -ён -ён

-ени
dative -ена́ м -ёнам
instrumental -енем -ена́ ми -ёнами
prepositional -ени -ена́ х -ёнах

Indeclinable nouns
Some nouns (such as borrowings from other languages, abbreviations, etc.) are not modified when they change number and case. This appears mostly when their gender appears to
have no ending in any declension which suits the final part of the word.

Rare minor cases

Aside from the six major cases, there are several rare minor cases. Some nouns use these cases while others do not. Native Russian speakers do not need to understand the minor cases
as the language is quite comprehensible without them, but knowledge of the rare cases is necessary for speaking like a native.

Some of the minor cases are:

Locative (ме́ стный): the most common minor case, it is used when speaking of location. Sometimes it is identical to the prepositional на( пло́ щади) and
( рту́ , not во рте́ – matches the dative;в лесу́ , not в ле́ се – unique form which is written like
sometimes it either matches the dative or is its own unique formво
the dative but pronounced differently);
Caritive (лиши́ тельный), used with the negation of verbs:не знать пра́ вды (not know the truth) – знать пра́ вду (know the truth). This case sometimes is
identical to the genitive and sometimes to the accusative;
Partitive (отдели́ тельный), or second genitive: sometimes used instead of the genitive:налить ча́ ю (to pour tea) – not налить ча́ я;[9]
Vocative (зва́ тельный): used in archaic expressions to call or identify a person:Бо́ же мой! (My God!). The modern vocative (sometimes called neo-vocative) is
used to produce a person's nickname by removing the vowel ending from the fectionate
af version of the name:Ива́ н (general) — Ва́ ня (short, affectionate) —
Вань (neo-vocative); Мари́ я — Ма́ ша — Маш. The neo-vocative has no plural form and can only be applied to names frequently used in Russian; rare names
(most of them are non-Slavic) do not have affectionate versions and, therefore, nicknames.

Adjectives
A Russian adjective (и́ мя прилага́ тельное) is usually placed before the noun it qualifies, and it agrees with the noun in case, gender, and number. With the exception of a few
invariant forms borrowed from other languages, such as беж ([bʲeʂ], 'beige') or ха́ ки ([ˈxakʲɪ], 'khaki-colored'),[10] most adjectives follow one of a small number of regular declension
patterns, except for some which provide difficulty in forming the short form. In modern Russian, the short form appears only in the nominative and is used when the adjective is in a
predicative role; formerly (as in the bylinas) short adjectives appeared in all other forms and roles, which are not used in the modern language, but are nonetheless understandable to
.[11]
Russian speakers as they are declined exactly like nouns of the corresponding gender

Adjectives may be divided into three general groups:

qualitative (ка́ чественные) – denotes a quality of the object; this is the only group that usually has degrees of comparison.
relational (относи́ тельные) – denote some sort of relationship; unlikely to act as a predicate or have a short form.
possessive (притяжа́ тельные) – denote belonging to a specific subject; have some declensional peculiarities.

Adjectival declension
The pattern described below holds true for full forms of most adjectives, except possessive ones. It is also used for substantivized adjectives as учёный ([ʊˈt͡ɕɵnɨj]: "scientist, scholar"
as a noun substitute or "scientific, learned" as a general adjective) and for adjectival participles. Russian differentiates between hard-stem and soft-stem adjectives, shown before and
after a slash sign.
 singular
plural
masculine neuter feminine
nominative -ый/-ий -ая/-яя -ые/-ие
-ое/-ее
accusative N or G -ую/-юю N or G
genitive -ого/-его -ых/-их
dative -ому/-ему -ым/-им
-ой/-ей
instrumental -ым/-им -ыми/-ими
prepositional -ом/-ем -ых/-их

1. The masculine and neuter genitive singular adjectival endings-ого and -его are pronounced as -ово and -ево.
2. After a sibilant (ш, ж, ч, щ) or velar (к, г, х) consonant, и is written instead of ы.
прямо́ й ([prʲɪˈmoj], "straight"), compare
3. When a masculine adjective ends in-ой in the nominative, the stress falls on the final syllable throughout its declension:
упря́ мый ([ʊˈprʲamɨj], "stubborn").
4. After a sibilant consonant, neuter adjectives end in-ее. It is sometimes called the"хоро́ шее rule".
5. The masculine accusative singular and the accusative plural endings depend on animacy , as with nouns.
6. The instrumental feminine ending-ой/-ей has old-fashion alternative form-ою/-ею for all adjectives, which has only stylistic difference.

Comparison of adjectives
Comparison forms are usual only for qualitative adjectives and adverbs. Comparative and superlative synthetic forms are not part of the paradigm of original adjective but are different
lexical items, since not all qualitative adjectives have them. A few adjectives have irregular forms which are declined as usual adjectives: большо́ й 'big' – бо́ льший 'bigger',
хоро́ ший 'good' – лу́чший 'better'. Most synthetically derived comparative forms are derived by adding the suffix -е́ е or -е́ й to the adjective stem: кра́ сный 'red' – красне́ е 'more
red'; these forms are difficult to distinguish from adverbs, and probably they are adverbs.[11] Superlative synthetic forms are derived by adding the suffix -е́ йш- or -а́ йш- and
additionally sometimes the prefix наи-, or using a special comparative form with the prefix наи-: до́ брый 'kind' – добре́ йший 'the kindest', большо́ й 'big' – наибо́ льший 'the
biggest'.

An alternative is to add an adverb to the positive form of the adjective. The adverbs used for this are бо́ лее 'more' / ме́ нее 'less' and са́ мый 'most' / наибо́ лее 'most' / наиме́ нее
'least': for example, до́ брый 'kind' – бо́ лее до́ брый 'kinder' – са́ мый до́ брый 'the kindest'. This way is rarely used if special comparative forms exist.

Possessive adjectives
Possessive adjectives are less frequently used in Russian than in most other Slavic languages,[12] but are still in use. They respond to the questions чей? чья? чьё? чьи? (whose?) and
denote only animated possessors.

Pronouns

Personal pronouns

singular plural
3rd reflexive
1st 2nd 1st 2nd 3rd
neuter masculine feminine
English I you (thou) it he she we you they -self
nominative я ты оно́ он она́ мы вы они́
accusative
меня́ тебя́ его́ её нас вас их себя́
genitive
dative мне тебе́ ему́ ей нам вам им себе́
мной тобо́ й ей собо́ й
instrumental им на́ ми ва́ ми и́ ми
(мно́ ю) (тобо́ ю) (ею) (собо́ ю)
prepositional мне тебе́ нём ней наc вас них себе́

Russian is subject to theT–V distinction. The respectful form of the singularyou is the same as the plural form. It begins with a capital letter:Вы, Вас, Вам, etc.,
in the following situations: personal letters and official papers (addressee is definite), and questionnaires (addressee is indefinite); otherwise it begins with
minuscule. Compare the distinction betweendu and Sie in German or tu and vous in French.
When a preposition is used directly before a third-person pronoun, it is prefixed with н-: у нег о (read: у нево), с неё, etc. Because the prepositional case always
occurs after a preposition, the third person prepositional always starts with an н-.
There are special cases for prepositions before first person singular pronouns: co мной – "with me" (usually c), ко мне – "to me" (usuallyк), во мне – "in me"
(usually в), обо мне – "about me" (usuallyо). All of these preposition forms are unstressed.
Like adjectives and numerals, letter "г" (g) in genitive and accusative form is pronounced as "в" (v): (н)ег о – (н)ево.
English "it" can be translated as bothоно́ (neuter personal pronoun) andэ́ то (neuter proximal demonstrative, "this"). The latter is used as a stub pronoun for a
subject: э́ то хорошо́ – "it/this is good", кто́ это? – "who is it/this?".

Demonstrative pronouns
 этот ('this') and тот ('that')
masculine neuter feminine plural masculine neuter feminine plural
nominative э́ тот э́ та э́ ти тот та те
э́ то то
accusative N or G э́ ту N or G N or G ту N or G
genitive э́ того э́ тих того́ тех
dative э́ тому э́ тим тому́ тем
э́ той той
instrumental э́ тим э́ тими тем те́ ми
prepositional э́ том э́ тих том тех

об: об э́ том – about this.

If the preposition "about" is used (usuallyо), for singular demonstrative pronouns (as with any other words starting with a vowel) it is

Possessive adjectives and pronouns

Unlike English, Russian uses the same form for a possessive adjective and the corresponding possessive pronoun. In Russian grammar they are called possessive pronouns
притяжательные местоимения (compare with possessive adjectives like Peter's =петин above). The following rules apply:

Possessive pronouns agree with the noun of thepossessed in case, gender, and number.
The reflexive pronoun свой is used when the possessor is the subject of the clause, whatever the person, gender , and number of that subject.
No non-reflexive exists for the third person: the genitive of the personal pronoun is instead, i.e.
его for a masculine/neuter sing.possessor, её for a feminine
sing. possessor and их for a plural possessor. But unlike other genitives used with a possessive meaning, in modern Russian these words are usually placed
before the object of possession.
Example of the difference between reflexive and non-reflexive pronouns:

"Он лю́бит свою́ жену́ = He loves his (own) wife" while "Он лю́бит его́ жену́ = He loves his (someone else's) wife".
Unlike Latin where a similar rule applies for the third person only
, Russian accepts using reflexives for all persons:

"Люблю́ свою́ жену́ = (I) love my wife"

"Люблю́ себя́ = (I) love myself"

мой (my, mine)

твой (your, yours) for a singular possessor
свой (my, mine, your, yours, one's, his, her, its, our, ours, your, yours, their) for a subject possessor
masculine neuter feminine plural masculine neuter feminine plural masculine neuter feminine plural
nominative мой моя́ мои́ твой твоя́ твои́ свой своя́ свои́
моё твоё своё
accusative N or G мою́ N or G N or G твою́ N or G N or G свою́ N or G
genitive моего́ мои́ х твоего́ твои́ х своего́ свои́ х
dative моему́ мои́ м твоему́ твои́ м своему́ свои́ м
мое́ й твое́ й свое́ й
instrumental мои́ м мои́ ми твои́ м твои́ ми свои́ м свои́ ми
prepositional моём мои́ х твоём твои́ х своём свои́ х

The ending -его is pronounced as -ево.

наш (our, ours)

ваш (your, yours) for a plural possessor
masculine neuter feminine plural masculine neuter feminine plural
nominative наш на́ ша на́ ши ваш ва́ ша ва́ ши
на́ ше ва́ ше
accusative N or G на́ шу N or G N or G ва́ шу N or G
genitive на́ шего на́ ших ва́ шего ва́ ших
dative на́ шему на́ шим ва́ шему ва́ шим
на́ шей ва́ шей
instrumental на́ шим на́ шими ва́ шим ва́ шими
prepositional на́ шем на́ ших ва́ шем ва́ ших

The ending -его is pronounced as -ево́ .

Interrogative pronouns

кто ('who') and что ('what')

кто что
nominative кто
что (read: што)
accusative
кого́ (read: каво́ )
genitive чего́ (read: чиво́ )
dative кому́ чему́
instrumental кем чем
prepositional ком чём
 о): (кто?) Ма́ ша лю́бит
These interrogatives are used by scholars to denote "usual" questions for correspondent grammatical cases (Prepositional is used with
(кого?) Ва́ сю – (who?) Masha [N.] loves (whom?) V
asya [G.].

чей ('whose')
masculine neuter feminine plural
nominative чей чья чьи
чьё
accusative N or G чью N or G
genitive чьего́ чьих
dative чьему́ чьим
чьей
instrumental чьим чьи́ ми
prepositional чьём чьих

The ending "-его" is pronounced as "-ево".

Numerals
Russian has several classes of numerals ([имена] числительные): cardinal, ordinal, collective, and also fractional constructions; also
it has other types of words, relative to numbers: collective adverbial forms (вдвоём), multiplicative (двойной) and counting-system
(двоичный) adjectives, some numeric-pronominal and indefinite quantity words (сколько, много, несколько). Here are the numerals
from 0 to 10:

ordinal numbers
cardinal numbers collective numbers
(nominative case, masculine)
Nouns are used in thenominative
0 ноль or нуль нулево́ й — case after "one" (один рубль, 'one
ruble').
оди́ н (m.), одна́ (f.), одно́ (n.), одни́ (pl.)
1 пе́ рвый —
(раз is used when counting)
2 два (m., n.), две (f.) второ́ й дво́ е
3 три тре́ тий тро́ е
4 четы́ ре четвёртый че́ тверо
5 пять пя́ тый пя́ теро
6 шесть шесто́ й ше́ стеро
7 семь седьмо́ й се́ меро

8 во́ семь восьмо́ й (во́ сьмеро)[13]

After certain other numbers
9 де́ вять девя́ тый (де́ вятеро) (following Grammatical number rules
10 де́ сять деся́ тый (де́ сятеро) in Russian) nouns must be declined
to genitive plural (десять рублей,
'ten rubles').
Verbs
Grammatical conjugationis 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). Verbs and participles can be reflexive,
i.e. have reflexive suffix -ся/-сь appended after ending.

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 formed (like the perfect
passive tense in Latin) with the present tense of the verb "to be" быть [bɨtʲ], which is now omitted except for rare archaic effect, usually in set phrases (откуда есть пошла земля
русская [ɐtˈkudə jesʲtʲ pɐˈʂla zʲɪˈmlʲa ˈruskəjə], "whence is come the Russian land", the opening of the Primary Chronicle in modern spelling). The participle nature of past-tense
forms is exposed also in that they often have an extra suffix vowel, which is absent in present/future; the same vowel appears in infinitive form, which is considered by few scholars
not to be verbal (and in the past it surely used to be a noun), but in which verbs appear in most dictionaries:одить
х "to walk" – ходил "(he) walked" – хожу "I walk".

Verbal inflection today is considerably simpler than in Old Russian. The ancient aorist, imperfect, and (periphrastic) pluperfect 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 (вид). Most verbs come in pairs, one with imperfective (несоверше́ нный вид) or continuous, the other with perfective (соверше́ нный
вид) or completed aspect, 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,сть, [14] As late as the nineteenth
е which is often used for all the persons and numbers.
century, the full conjugation, which today is extremely archaic, 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-Europeanfinity
af of Russian:
 English Russian Latin Classical Greek Sanskrit

есмь sum εἰμί अि म

"I am"
[jesʲmʲ] [sũː] [eːmí] [ˈɐsmi]

еси́ es εἶ अिस
"you are" (sing.)
[jɪˈsʲi] [ɛs] [êː] [ˈɐsi]

есть est ἐστί(ν) अि त

"he, she, it is"
[jesʲtʲ] [ɛst] [estí(n)] [ˈɐsti]

есмы́ sumus ἐσμέν मः

"we are"
[jɪˈsmɨ] [ˈsʊmʊs] [esmén] [smɐh]

е́ сте estis ἐστέ थ

"you are" (plural)
[ˈjesʲtʲɪ] [ˈɛstɪs] [esté] [stʰɐ]

суть sunt εἰσί(ν) सि त

"they are"
[ˈsutʲ] [sʊnt] [eːsí(n)] [ˈsɐnti]

Infinitive
The infinitive is the basic form of a verb for most purposes of study. In Russian it has the suffix -ть/-ти (the latter is used after consonants), or ends with -чь (but -чь is not a suffix of a
verb). For reflexive verbs -ся/-сь suffix is added in the end; in case of -чся the soft sign is removed, because as a grammatical indicator it can only be word-final. Note that due to
phonological effects, both -ться and -тся endings (later is used for present-future tense of a 3rd person reflexive verb; see below) are pronounced as [t͡sə] or [tsə] and often cause
misspellings even among native speakers.

Present-future tense

First conjugation Second conjugation

1st singular -у or -ю 1st singular -у or -ю
2nd singular -ешь 2nd singular -ишь
3rd singular -ет 3rd singular -ит
1st plural -ем 1st plural -им
2nd plural -ете 2nd plural -ите
3rd plural -ут or -ют 3rd plural -ат or -ят

-у/-ут,-ат is used after a hard consonant or ж, ш, щ or ч; otherwise -ю/-ю

т,-ят is used.
A mutating final consonant may entail a change in the ending.
е becomes ё when stressed.
There are two forms used to conjugate the present tense of imperfective verbs and the future tense of perfective verbs.

The first conjugation is used in verb stems ending in:

a consonant,
-у,-ы or -о,-я
-е (In addition to below)
Бить, пить, жить, шить, лить, вить, гнить, брить, ст
елить, зиджить.
in -а not preceded by a hush (ж, ш, щ or ч):
The second conjugation involves verb stems ending in:

-и or -е (Тереть, глядеть, смотреть, видеть, ненавидеть, обидеть, зависеть, терпеть, вертеть, пыхтеть, сидеть, лететь, гудеть, гореть, сопеть, дудеть,
блестеть, храпеть, смердеть, хрипеть, шелестеть, хрустеть, сипеть, кишеть, бдеть, звенеть, кряхтеть, кипеть, корпеть, зудеть, скорбеть, тарахтеть,
шуметь, зреть, висеть, греметь, шипеть)
in -а preceded by a hush (ж, ш, щ or ч)(Слыша ть, дышать, держать, лежать, дребезжать, жужжать, брюзжать, дрожать, бренчать, стучать, мычать,
кричать, молчать, рычать, мчать, урчать, звучать, бурчать, ворчать, торчать, журчать, гнать):
Стоять, бояться
Example: попро-с-ить – попро-ш-у, попро-с-ят [pəprɐˈsʲitʲ, pəprɐˈʂu, pɐˈprosʲɪt] (to have solicited – [I, they] will have solicited).

Examples

First conjugation
чита́ ть ('to read', stem: чита–)
я чита́ ю I read (am reading, do read)
ты чита́ ешь you read (are reading, do read)
он/она́ /оно́ чита́ ет he/she/it reads (is reading, does read)
мы чита́ ем we read (are reading, do read)
вы чита́ ете you (plural/formal) read (are reading, do read)
они чита́ ют they read (are reading, do read)
 First conjugation: verbs ending in -нуть
верну́ ть ('to return [something]', stem: верн–)
я верну́ I will return
ты вернёшь you will return
он/она́ /оно́ вернёт he/she/it will return
мы вернём we will return
вы вернёте you will return
они верну́ т they will return

First conjugation: verbs ending in -овать, -евать

рисова́ ть ('to draw', stem: рису-) плева́ ть ('to spit', stem: плю-) танцева́ ть ('to dance', stem: танцу-)
я рису́ю я плюю́ я танцу́ю
ты рису́ешь ты плюёшь ты танцу́ешь
он/она́ /оно́ рису́ет он/она́ /оно́ плюёт он/она́ /оно́ танцу́ет
мы рису́ем мы плюём мы танцу́ем
вы рису́ете вы плюёте вы танцу́ете
они́ рису́ют они́ плюю́т они́ танцу́ют

First conjugation: verbs ending in -чь

мочь ('can', stem: мог-/мож-) печь ('to bake', stem: пек-/печ-)
я могу́ I can я пеку́ I bake
ты мо́ жешь you can ты печёшь you bake
он/она́ /оно́ мо́жет he/she/it can он/она́ /оно́ печёт he/she/it bakes
мы мо́ жем we can мы печём we bake
вы мо́ жете you (all) can вы печёте you (all) bake
они́ мо́ гут they can они́ пеку́ т they bake

First conjugation (verbs ending in -сти, -сть)

нести́ ('to carry', stem: вести́ ('to lead', stem: мести́ ('to sweep', stem: грести́ ('to row', stem: красть ('to steal', stem:
нес-) вед-) мет-) греб-) крад-)
я несу́ я веду́ я мету́ я гребу́ я краду́
ты несёшь ты ведёшь ты метёшь ты гребёшь ты крадёшь
он/она́ /оно́ несёт он/она́ /оно́ ведёт он/она́ /оно́ метёт он/она́ /оно́ гребёт он/она́ /оно́ крадёт
мы несём мы ведём мы метём мы гребём мы крадём
вы несёте вы ведёте вы метёте вы гребёте вы крадёте
они́ несу́ т они́ веду́ т они́ мету́ т они́ гребу́ т они́ краду́ т

First conjugation (verbs ending in -зти, -зть)

везти́ ('to convey', stem: вез-) лезть ('to climb', stem: лез-)
я везу́ я ле́ зу
ты везёшь ты ле́ зешь
он/она́ /оно́ везёт он/она́ /оно́ ле́ зет
мы везём мы ле́ зем
вы везёте вы ле́ зете
они́ везу́ т они́ ле́ зут

First conjugation: verbs ending in -ыть

мыть ('to wash', stem: мо-)
я мо́ ю I wash
ты мо́ ешь you wash
он/она́ /оно́ мо́ ет he/she/it washes
мы мо́ ем we wash
вы мо́ ете you (all) wash
они́ мо́ ют they wash
 First conjugation (verbs бить, вить, лить, пить, шить)
бить ('to beat', stem: вить ('to weave', stem: лить ('to pour', stem: шить ('to sew', stem:
пить ('to drink', stem: пь-)
бь-) вь-) ль-) шь-)
я бью я вью я лью я пью I drink я шью
ты бьёшь ты вьёшь ты льёшь ты пьёшь you drink ты шьёшь
он/она́ /оно́ he/she/it
он/она́ /оно́ бьёт он/она́ /оно́ вьёт он/она́ /оно́ льёт он/она́ /оно́ шьёт
пьёт drinks
мы бьём мы вьём мы льём мы пьём we drink мы шьём
вы бьёте вы вьёте вы льёте вы пьёте you (all) drink вы шьёте
они́ бьют они́ вьют они́ льют они́ пьют they drink они шьют

First conjugation (verbs жить, плыть, слыть)

жить ('to live', stem: жив-) плыть ('to swim', stem: плыв-) слыть ('to pass for', stem: слыв-)
я живу́ I live я плыву́ я слыву́
ты живёшь you live ты плывёшь ты слывёшь
он/она́ /оно́ живёт he/she/it lives он/она́ /оно́ плывёт он/она́ /оно́ слывёт
мы живём we live мы плывём мы слывём
вы живёте you (all) live вы плывёте вы слывёте
они́ живу́ т they live они́ плыву́ т они́ слыву́ т

Second conjugation
говори́ ть ('to speak', stem: говор-)
я говорю́ I speak (am speaking, do speak)
ты говори́ шь you speak (are speaking, do speak)
он/она́ /оно́ говори́ т he/she/it speaks (is speaking, does speak)
мы говори́ м we speak (are speaking, do speak)
вы говори́ те you (plural/formal) speak (are speaking, do speak)
они говоря́ т they speak (are speaking, do speak)

Second conjugation (verbs ending in -бить, -вить, -пить, -мить)

люби́ ть ('to love', stem: люб-) лови́ ть ('to catch', stem: лов-) топи́ ть ('to sink', stem: топ-) корми́ ть ('to feed', stem: корм-)
я люблю́ I love я ловлю́ я топлю́ я кормлю́
ты лю́бишь you love ты ло́ вишь ты то́ пишь ты ко́ рмишь
он́ /она́ /оно́ лю́бит he/she/it loves он́ /она́ /оно́ ло́ вит он́ /она́ /оно́ то́ пит он́ /она́ /оно́ ко́ рмит
мы лю́бим we love мы ло́ вим мы то́ пим мы ко́ рмим
вы лю́бите you (all) love вы ло́ вите вы то́ пите вы ко́ рмите
они́ лю́бят they love они́ ло́ вят они́ то́ пят они́ ко́ рмят

Second conjugation (verbs ending in -сить, -зить, -тить, -дить, -стить)

проси́ ть ('to ask', вози́ ть ('to convey', плати́ ть ('to pay', stem: ходи́ ть ('to go [to walk]', прости́ ть ('to forgive',
stem: прос-) stem: воз-) плат-) stem: ход-) stem: прост-)
я прошу́ я вожу́ я плачу́ I pay я хожу́ я прощу́
ты про́ сишь ты во́ зишь ты пла́ тишь you pay ты хо́ дишь ты прости́ шь
он/она́ /оно́ he/she/it
он/она́ /оно́ про́ сит он/она́ /оно́ во́ зит он/она́ /оно́ хо́ дит он/она́ /оно́ прости́ т
пла́ тит pays
мы про́ сим мы во́ зим мы пла́ тим we pay мы хо́ дим мы прости́ м
you (all)
вы про́ сите вы во́ зите вы пла́ тите вы хо́ дите вы прости́ те
pay
они́ про́ сят они́ во́ зят они́ пла́ тят they pay они́ хо́ дят они́ простя́ т

There are five irregular verbs:

бежа́ ть (run), бре́ зжить (glimmer) – plural third person are of the first conjugation, in other forms, second;
хоте́ ть (want) – in the singular first conjugation, plural the second;
дать (give) – (дам, дашь, даст, дади́ м, дади́ те, даду́ т).
есть (eat) – (ем, ешь, ест, еди́ м, еди́ те, едя́ т);

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 спа
л, while a female speaker would say я спалá.
Examples

Past of де́ лать ('to do', 'to make')

masculine feminine neuter plural
я де́ лал I made (says a man) я де́ лала I made (says a woman) мы де́ лали we made
ты де́ лал you made (is said to a man) ты де́ лала you made (is said to a woman) вы де́ лали you (all) made
он де́ лал he made она́ де́ лала she made оно́ де́ лало it made они́ де́ лали they made

Exceptions

Verbs ending in -сти, -сть, -зти, -зть

infinitive present stem past
ле́ зть лез- лез, ле́ зла, ле́ зло, ле́ зли
нести́ нес- нёс, несла́ , несло́ , несли́
везти́ вез- вёз, везла́ , везло́ , везли́
вести́ вед- вёл, вела́ , вело́ , вели́
мести́ мет- мёл, мела́ , мело́ , мели́
грести́ греб- грёб, гребла́ , гребло́ , гребли́
расти́ раст- рос, росла́ , росло́ , росли́

Verbs ending in -чь

infinitive present stem past
мочь мог-/мож- мог, могла́ , могло́ , могли́
печь пек-/печ- пёк, пекла́ , пекло́ , пекли́

Verbs ending in -ереть

infinitive past
умере́ ть у́ мер, умерла́ , у́ мерло, у́ мерли

The verb идти́ ('to go, to walk') and verbs ending in -йти
infinitive past
идти́ (to go) шёл, шла, шло, шли
уйти́ (to go away) ушёл, ушла́ , ушло́ , ушли́
найти́ (to find) нашёл, нашла́ , нашло́ , нашли́
пройти́ (to pass) прошёл, прошла́ , прошло́ , прошли́
прийти́ (to come) пришёл, пришла́ , пришло́ пришли́
вы́ йти (to go out) вы́ шел, вы́ шла, вы́ шло, вы́ шли

The verb есть (to eat)

infinitive past
есть ел, е́ ла, е́ ло, е́ ли

Moods
Russian verbs can form threemoods (наклонения): indicative (изъявительное), conditional (сослагательное) and imperative (повелительное).[15]

Imperative mood
The imperative mood second-person singular is formed from the future-present base of most verbs by adding -и (stressed ending in present-future, or if base ends on more than one
consonant), -ь (unstressed ending, base on one consonant) or -й (unstressed ending, base on vowel). Plural (including polite на вы) second-person form is made by adding -те to
singular one: говорю 'I speak' – говори – говорите, забуду 'I shall forget' – забудь – забудьте, клею 'I glue' – клей – клейте. Some verbs have first-person plural imperative form
with -те added to similar simple future or present tense form: пойдёмте 'let us go'. There are other ways of expressing command in Russian; for third person, for example, пусть
лчат! 'Let them shut up!'.[16]
particle with future can be used: Пусть они замо
 infinitive present stem imperative (2nd singular) imperative (2nd plural)
де́ лать де́ ла- де́ лай де́ лайте
рисова́ ть рису- рису́й рису́йте
тро́ нуть трон- тро́ нь тро́ ньте
верну́ ть верн- верни́ верни́ те
ве́ рить вер- верь ве́ рьте
люби́ ть люб- люби́ люби́ те
услы́ шать услыш- услы́ шь услы́ шьте
смотре́ ть смотр- смотри́ смотри́ те
пла́ кать плач- плачь пла́ чьте
писа́ ть пиш- пиши́ пиши́ те

лезть ле́ з- лезь ле́ зьте

везти́ вез- вези́ вези́ те
нести́ нес- неси́ неси́ те
вести́ вед- веди́ веди́ те
мести́ мет- мети́ мети́ те
грести́ греб- греби́ греби́ те
расти́ раст- расти́ расти́ те

Conditional mood
The conditional mood in Russian is formed by adding the particle бы after the word which marks the supposed subject into a sentence formed like in the past tense. Thus, to say "I
л бы (or я бы поспа́ л), while a female speaker would say я спалá бы (or я бы поспала́ ).
would (hypothetically) sleep" or "I would like to sleep", a male speaker would say я спа

Conditional of the verbсказа́ ть ('to say')

masculine feminine neuter plural
я бы I would say (says a male я бы I would say (says a female мы бы we would
сказа́ л speaker) сказа́ ла speaker) сказа́ ли say
ты бы you would say (is said to a ты бы you would say (is said to a вы бы you (all)
сказа́ л male speaker) сказа́ ла female speaker) сказа́ ли would say
он бы она́ бы оно́ бы it would они́ бы they would
he would say she would say
сказа́ л сказа́ ла сказа́ ло say сказа́ ли say

Negative conditional forms

masculine feminine neuter plural
я бы не I wouldn't say (says a male я бы не I wouldn't say (says a female мы бы не we wouldn't
сказа́ л speaker) сказа́ ла speaker) сказа́ ли say
ты бы не you wouldn't say (is said to a ты бы не you wouldn't say (is said to a вы бы не you (all)
сказа́ л male speaker) сказа́ ла female speaker) сказа́ ли wouldn't say
it
он бы не она́ бы не оно́ бы не они́ бы не they wouldn't
he wouldn't say she wouldn't say wouldn't
сказа́ л сказа́ ла сказа́ ло сказа́ ли say
say

Verbs of motion
Verbs of motion are a distinct class of verbs found in several Slavic languages. Due to the extensive semantic information they contain, Russian verbs of motion pose difficulties for
non-native learners at all levels of study.[17] Unprefixed verbs of motion, which are all imperfective, divide into pairs based on the direction of the movement (uni- or multidirectional
—sometimes called determinate/indeterminate or definite/indefinite). As opposed to a verb-framed language, in which path is encoded in the verb, but manner of motion typically is
expressed with complements, Russian is a satellite language, meaning that these concepts are encoded in both the root of the verb and the particles associated with it, satellites.[18]
Thus, the roots of motion verbs convey the lexical information of manner of movement, e.g. walking, crawling, running, whereas prefixes denote path, e.g. motion in and out of
space.[19][note 1] The roots also distinguish between means of conveyance, e.g. by transport or by one's own power, and, in transitive verbs, the object or person being transported.[20]
The information below provides an outline of the formation and basic usage of unprefixed and prefixed verbs of motion.

Unprefixed verbs of motion

[20][note 2]
This table contains 14 commonly-accepted pairs of Russian verbs of motion, adapted from Muravyova.
 English unidirectional multidirectional
'to run' бежа́ ть бе́ гать
'to wander' брести́ броди́ ть
'to convey, transport' везти́ вози́ ть
'to lead' вести́ води́ ть
'to drive, chase' гна́ ть гоня́ ть
'to go by vehicle, ride' е́ хать е́ здить
'to go, walk' идти́ ходи́ ть
'to roll' кати́ ть ката́ ть
'to climb' ле́ зть ла́ зить (ла́ зать)
'to fly' лете́ ть лета́ ть
'to carry' нести́ носи́ ть
'to swim, float' плы́ ть пла́ вать
'to crawl' ползти́ по́ лзать
'to drag' тащи́ ть таска́ ть

Directionality
Unidirectional verbs of motion describe motion in progress in one direction, e.g.:

We are headed to the library.

Мы идём в библиотеку.
I was on my way to work.
Я шла на работу.
Birds fly south in autumn.
Птицы летят на юг осенью.
Multidirectional verbs of motion describe:

1. General motion, referring to ability or habitual motion, without reference to direction or destination, e.g.:

The child has been walking for six months.

Ребёнок ходит шесть месяцев.
Birds fly, fish swim, and dogs walk.
Птицы летают, рыбы плавают, а собаки ходят.
2. Movement in various directions, e.g.:

We walked around the city all day.

Мы ходили по городу весь день.
3. Repetition of completed trips, e.g.:

She goes the supermarket every week.

Она ходит в супермаркет каждую неделю.
4. In the past tense, a single completed round trip, e.g.:

I went to Russia (and returned) last year.

В прошлом году я ездил в Россию.

Unidirectional perfectives with по-

The addition of the prefix по- to a unidirectional verb of motion makes the verb perfective, denoting the beginning of a movement, i.e. 'setting out'. These perfectives imply that the
[21]:353–355
agent has not yet returned at the moment of speech, e.g.,

a. He went to a friend's place (and has not returned).

Он пошёл к другу.
Compare with:
b. He went to a friend's place (and has returned).
Он ходил к другу.
c. He was on his way to a friend's place.
Он шёл к другу.

Going versus taking

Three pairs of motion verbs generally refer to 'taking', 'leading' with additional lexical information on manner of motion and object of transport encoded in the verb stem. These are
[21]
нести/носить, вести/водить, and везти/возить. See below for the specific information on manner and object of transport:

A. нести/носить – 'to take (on foot), carry'

a. He carries a briefcase.
Он носит портфель.
b. She is taking her assignment to class.
Она несёт домашнее задание на занятия.
B. вести/водить – 'to take, lead (people or animals)'; 'to drive (a vehicle)'

a. The teacher was taking the children to a field trip.

Учитель вёл школьников на экскурсию
 b. She took her friend to the theatre.
Она водила свою подругу в театр.
c. She knows how to drive a car.
Она умеет водить машину.
C. везти/возить – 'to take, drive, convey by vehicle'

a. She is wheeling her grandmother in a wheelchair

.
Она везёт бабушку в инвалидном кресле.
b. The train took the passengers to England (and back).
Поезд возил пассажиров в Англию.

Prefixed verbs of motion

Verbs of motion combine with prefixes to form new aspectual pairs, which lose the distinction of directionality, but gain spatial or temporal meanings. The unidirectional verb serves as
the base for the perfective, and the multidirectional as the base for the imperfective. In addition to the meanings conveyed by the prefix and the simplex motion verb, prepositional
[22] Thus, it is important to consider the whole verb phrase when examining verbs of motion.
phrases also contribute to the expression of path in Russian.

ferent stem shape:[23]

In some verbs of motion, adding a prefix requires a dif

A. идти → -йти 'go (on foot)'

a. For prefixes ending in a consonant, an -o- is added in all forms, e.g.: ойти.
в
b. й is lost in the non-past conjugated forms of прийти, e.g.: приду 'I come'.
B. ездить → -езжать 'go (by conveyance)' For prefixes ending in a consonant, a hard sign (ъ) is added before –е хать and –езжать, e.g.: въезжать 'enter (by
conveyance)'.
C. бéгать → -бегáть 'run' The formation of the verb remains the same, but stress shifts from the stem to the endings, e.g.:бегáть
у 'run away'.
D. плáвать → -плывáть 'swim' The vowel in the root changes to -ы- and the stress shifts to the endings.
вы́ йдешь 'go out'.
E. In perfective verbs with the prefix вы-, the prefix is stressed in all forms, e.g.
See below for a table the prefixes, their primary meanings, and the prepositions that accompany them, adapted from Muravyova.[20] Several examples are taken directly or modified
from Muravyova.
 Prefixed verbs of motion
Prefix / primary meanings Examples / additional meanings Prepositional
Phrases
spatial
в-, о- The tram stopped and the girl entered. в / на + acc.
Movement inwards across a threshold, entering Трамвай остановился, и девушка вошла.
Antonym: вы-
вы- She exited the office. из / с / от + gen.
Movement out of something across a threshold, exiting Она вышла из кабинета. в / на + acc.
Antonym: в- к + dat.
Other:

1. Step out for a short period of time, e.g.:

The secretary left for ten minutes.
Секретарь вышел на десять минут.
2. Leave at a specific time frame, e.g.:
They left early in the morning to catch their train/plain .
Они выехали рано утром, чтобы успеть на поезд/самолёт.

при- He arrived in Moscow a week ago. в / на + acc.

Intended arrival, signals presence of the agent at a location as a result of Он приехал в Москву неделю назад. к + dat.
motion из / с / от + gen.
Antonym: у-
у- They will leave Vladivostok in a month. в / на + acc.
Intended departure, signals absence Они улетят из Владивостока через месяц. к + dat.
Antonym: при- Where is Igor? He already left. из / с / от + gen.
Где Игорь? Он уже ушёл.
под-, подо- He approached the girl to ask for her number
. к + dat.
Approach Он подошёл к девушке, чтобы спросить её номер. до + gen.
Antonym: от-
Other: Подвезти – give someone a lift, e.g.:

He took me (as far as) downtown.

Он подвёз меня до центра.

от-, ото- The boy stepped back from the stranger who had of
fered him от + gen.
Withdrawal a short distance away candy.
Antonym: под- Мальчик отошёл от незнакомца, который предложил ему
конфеты.
Other: With transitive verbs, delivering or dropping something off
(agent does not remain), e.g.:

I'll drop the book off at the library, then come.

Я отнесу книги в библиотеку, потом приду.

до- The passengers reached the last station and exited the bus. до + gen.
Reaching a limit or destination Пассажиры доехали до последней остановки и вышли из
автобуса.
Other: Characterizing the duration of a journey, especially when it
is long, e.g.:

We finally reached the dacha.

Мы наконец доехали до дачи.

за- The old woman walked behind the corner and disappeared. в / на / за + acc.
Movement behind an object; stopping off on the way Старушка зашла за угол и исчезла. к + dat.
за + inst.
Other:

1. Action performed on the way to a destination, e.g.:

On the way home I stopped at the store for bread.
По дороге домой я зашла в магазин за хлебом
2. A short visit, e.g.:
The young man often stops by his mother's place.
Молодой человек часто заходит к маме.
3. Movement deep into something, at a great distance (inside,
upwards or downwards), e.g.:
The ball flew onto the roof of the house.
Мяч залетел на крышу дома.

про- We drove through the city. сквозь / через /

Movement across, through, or past something Мы проехали через город. в + acc.
We passed the metro station. мимо + gen.
Мы прошли мимо станции метро. without
preposition
Other:

1. Movement beyond one's destination (possibly unintentional),

e.g.:
I'm afraid we already passed the store.
Я боюсь, что мы уже прошли магазин.
2. Movement forward with the distance covered specified, e.g.:
You'll go three stops and get off the tram.
Вы проедете три остановки и выйдете из трамвая.

пере- The ducks swam across the river. через + acc

 Movement across, from one point to another; through Утки переплыли реку. without
preposition +
Other: Changing residence, e.g.:
acc.
I moved to another city.
Я переехала в другой город.

вз-, взо-, воз-, вс-, вос- The mountain climber walked up the mountain. в / на + acc.
Movement upwards Альпинист взошёл на гору.
Antonym: с-
с-, со- After the performance, the actor got off the stage. c + gen.
Movement downwards После представления актёр сошёл со сцены. на + acc.
Antonym: вз- к + dat.
за + inst.
о-, об-, обо- The little girl walked around the puddle. вокруг + gen.
Movement around an object or involving a consecutive number of objects, Девочка обошла лужу. without
circling, covering a whole place I'm going around to all the stores in the mall. preposition +
Я обхожу все магазины в центре. acc.
из-, изо-, ис- I traveled over the whole world. without
Movement involving the entire area concerned and carried out in all Я изъездил весь мир. preposition +
directions acc.
*only formed from multidirectional verb of motion
на- A cloud crept onto the sun. в/на + acc.
Movement onto the surface of an object Туча наползла на солнце. without
*only formed from multidirectional verb of motion preposition +
Other: Quantified movement, e.g.:
acc.
The driver covered 50 kilometers.
Водитель наездил 50 километров.
I had 2500 flight hours in Boeing 737.
Я налетал 2500 часов на Боинге 737.

с-, со- (+сь, +ся) In order to study, the student brought all her e
t xtbooks from other в / на + acc.
Convergent movement from various directions towards one center rooms to her desk. к + dat.
Antonym: раз-, разо-, рас- (+сь, +ся) Чтобы заниматься, студентка снесла все учебники из других
комнат на письменный стол.
The children ran (from all directions) to the playground.
Дети сбежались на детскую площадь
раз-, разо-, рас- (+сь, +ся) Grandfather Frost brought the gifts to the (various) houses. по + dat. pl.
Divergent movement in various directions from one center Дед Мороз разнёс подарки по домам. в + асс. pl.
Antonym: с-, со- (+сь, +ся) After dinner, we went to our separate homes.
После ужина, мы разошлись по домам.
temporal
по- I went to the university. в / на + acc.
Beginning of unidirectional movement Я пошла в университет. к + dat.
*with unidirectional verb of motion из / с / от + gen.
Other:
по + dat.
without prep. +
1. Intention to carry out a movement in the future, e.g.: inst.
In the winter I plan to go to Florida.
Зимой я собираюсь поехать во Флориду.
2. Approximate location of the agent at moment of speech, e.g.:
Where's Dad? He went to (is at) work.
Где папа? Он пошёл на работу.

за- She started running around the room. по + dat.

Beginning of multidirectional movement Она забегала по комнате.
*With multidirection verb of motion
про- We walked around the woods all day. without prep +
Prolonged multidirectional movement Мы проходили по лесу весь день. acc.
*with multidirectional verb of motion
по- She walked around the apartment pensively and finally decided to
Slow and measured multidirectional movement leave.
*with multidirectional verb of motion Она задумчиво походила по квартире и наконец решила уйти.
resultative
с- I went to the pharmacy for medicine and went to bed. в / на + acc.
Completed semelfactive movement in opposite directions, there and Я сходил в аптеку за лекарством и лёг спать. к + dat.
back.
*only formed with multidirectional verb of motion

Idiomatic uses
The uni- and multidirectional distinction rarely figures into the metaphorical and idiomatic use of motion verbs, because such phrases typically call for one or the other verb. See below
for examples:[21]:357–358
 Idiomatic uses of motion verbs
Verb Example
unidirectional
идти
1. It's not raining, but it is snowing.
Идёт не дождь, а снег.
2. The clock is going.
Часы идут.
3. A film is on.
Идёт фильм.
4. That dress suits you.
Это платье тебе идёт.
5. The government is moving towards democracy .
Правительство идёт к демократии.
6. The president is going against the will of the people.
Президент идёт против воли народа.

вести
1. The country is waging a war.
Страна ведёт войну.
2. The girl keeps a diary.
Девочка ведёт дневник.
3. The friends carry on a correspondence for a long time.
Друзья долго ведут переписку.
4. The road leads to the city.
Дорога ведёт в город.
5. No good comes from lying.
Ложь к добру не ведёт.

нести
1. The woman bears the responsibility of her children.
Женщина несёт ответственность за детей.
2. The farmer bears the losses from the drought.
Фермер несёт потери от засухи.
3. The criminal undergoes severe punishment.
Преступник несёт тяжёлое наказание.

лететь
1. Time flies.
Время летит.
2. Shares are plummeting because of the economic crisis.
Акции летят от экономического кризиса.

лезть
The hooligans are getting into a brawl.
Хулиганы лезут в драку.

везти
She is lucky/got lucky.
Ей везёт / повезло.

бежать
1. Blood flows from the wound.
Кровь бежит из раны.
2. The days fly past.
Дни бегут.

multidirectional
носить
1. Ivan Ivanovich bears the name of his father
.
Иван Иванович носит имя отца.
2. The clothes bears the imprint of old age.
Одежда носит отпечаток ветхости.
3. She wears pretty clothing.
Она носит красивую одежду.

ходить
Rumor has it that she left her husband.
Ходит слух, что она бросила мужа

водить
He fooled me for a long time when he said that everything was fine in our firm.
Он долго водил меня за нос, когда говорил, что в нашей фирме всё хорошо.

кататься
I like to ski, skate, cycle, and row.
Мне нравится кататься на лыжах, на коньках, на велосипеде и на лодке.

Adjectival participle
Russian adjectival participles can be active or passive; have perfective or imperfective mood; imperfective participles can have present or past tense, while perfective ones in classical
language can be only past.[24] As adjectives, they are declined by case, number and gender. If adjectival participles are derived from reciprocal verbs, they have suffix -ся appended
after the adjectival ending; this suffix in participles never takes the short form. Participles are often difficult to distinguish from deverbal adjectives (this is important for some cases of
orthography).

Active present participle

Лю́ди, живу́ щие в э́том го́ роде, о́ чень до́ брые и отве́ тственные – The people living in this city are very kind and responsible.

In order to form the active present participle the "т" of the 3rd person plural of the present tense is replaced by "щ" and add a necessary adjective ending:

де́ лать (to do, to make) – де́ лают (they do/make) – де́ лающий (doing, making)

masculine де́ лающий

feminine де́ лающая
neuter де́ лающее
plural де́ лающие

Note: Only imperfective verbs can have an active present participle.

Examples
3rd person plural
infinitive active present participle
(present Tense)
First conjugation
име́ ть (to have) име́ ют име́ ющий
писа́ ть (to write) пи́ шут пи́ шущий
пря́ тать (to conceal) пря́ чут пря́ чущий
рисова́ ть (to draw) рису́ют рису́ющий
вести́ (to lead) веду́ т веду́ щий
печь (to bake) пеку́ т пеку́ щий
жить (to live) живу́ т живу́ щий
люби́ ть (to love) лю́бят лю́бящий
коло́ ть (to break) ко́ лют ко́ лющий
идти́ (to go) иду́ т иду́ щий
пить (to drink) пьют пью́щий
мыть (to wash) мо́ ют мо́ ющий
брить (to shave) бре́ ют бре́ ющий
петь (to sing) пою́т пою́щий
дава́ ть (to give) даю́т даю́щий
жать (to press) жмут жмущий
тону́ ть (to sink) то́ нут то́ нущий
Second conjugation
слы́ шать (to hear) слы́ шат слы́ шащий
сто́ ить (to cost) сто́ ят сто́ ящий
стоя́ ть (to stand) стоя́ т стоя́ щий
хоте́ ть (to want) хотя́ т хотя́ щий
Other verbs
бежа́ ть (to run) бегу́ т бегу́ щий
есть (to eat) едя́ т едя́ щий
быть (to be) *суть *су́ щий

(*) Note: These forms are obsolete in modern Russian and they aren't used in the spoken language as forms of the verb 'to be'.

Active present participle declension

 де́ лающий – doing/making
singular
plural
masculine feminine neuter
nominative де́ лающий де́ лающая де́ лающие
де́ лающее
accusative N or G де́ лающую N or G
genitive де́ лающего де́ лающего де́ лающих
dative де́ лающему де́ лающему де́ лающим
де́ лающей
instrumental де́ лающим де́ лающим де́ лающими
prepositional де́ лающем де́ лающем де́ лающих

Reflexive verbs paradigm

де́ лающийся – being done/being made

singular
plural
masculine feminine neuter
nominative де́ лающийся де́ лающаяся де́ лающиеся
де́ лающееся
accusative N or G де́ лающуюся N or G
genitive де́ лающегося де́ лающегося де́ лающихся
dative де́ лающемуся де́ лающемуся де́ лающимся
де́ лающейся
instrumental де́ лающимся де́ лающимся де́ лающимися
prepositional де́ лающемся де́ лающемся де́ лающихся

The participle agrees in gender, case and number with the word it refers to:

Я посвяща́ ю э́ ту пе́ сню лю́дям, живу́ щим в на́ шем го́ роде – I dedicate this song to the people living in our city.
Я горжу́ сь людьми́ , живу́ щими в на́ шем го́ роде – I'm proud of the people living in our city.

Active past participle

The active past participle is used in order to indicate actions that happened in the past:

Де́ вушка, чита́ вшая тут кни́ гу, забы́ ла свой телефо́ н – The girl, that read this book here, forgot her phone (the girl read the
book in the past).

Compare:

Де́ вушка, чита́ ющая тут кни́ гу, – моя́ сестра́ – The girl reading this book here is my sister (she is reading the book now, in
the present).

In order to form the active past participle the infinitive ending-ть'

' is replaced by the suffix '-вш-' and add an adjective ending:

де́ лать (to do, to make) – де́ лавший

masculine де́ лавший

feminine де́ лавшая
neuter де́ лавшее
plural де́ лавшие

Examples
infinitive active past participle
име́ ть '(to have)' име́ вший
рисова́ ть '(to draw)' рисова́ вший
тону́ ть '(to drown)' тону́ вший
люби́ ть '(to love)' люби́ вший
писа́ ть '(to write)' писа́ вший
коло́ ть '(to poke through with a needle)' коло́ вший
бить '(to hit)' би́ вший
мыть '(to wash)' мы́ вший
дава́ ть '(to give)' дава́ вший
жать '(to squeeze/compress)' жа́ вший
стать '(to become)' ста́ вший
жить '(to live)' жи́ вший
 Exceptions
past tense
infinitive active past participle
(masculine)
Some verbs ending in consonant + нуть
со́ хнуть (to dry) сох сохший
проту́ хнуть (to become rancid) проту́ х проту́ хший
сдо́ хнуть (to die ("croak")) сдох сдо́ хший
Verbs ending in -зть
лезть (to climb) лез ле́ зший
Verbs ending in -ти
везти́ (to convey) вёз вёзший
вести́ (to lead) вёл ве́ дший
нести́ (to carry) нёс нёсший
мести́ (to sweep) мёл мётший
грести́ (to row) грёб грёбший
расти́ (to grow) рос ро́ сший
Verbs ending in -чь
помо́ чь (to help) помог помо́ гший
печь (to bake) пёк пёкший
Verbs ending in -ереть
умере́ ть (to die) у́ мер у́ мерший
запере́ ть (to lock) за́ пер за́ перший
стере́ ть (to erase) стёр стёрший
The verb красть
красть (to steal) крал кра́ вший
The verb идти́
идти́ (to go) шёл шедший

Active past participle declension

де́ лавший
singular
plural
masculine feminine neuter
nominative де́ лавший де́ лавшая де́ лавшие
де́ лавшее
accusative N or G де́ лавшую N or G
genitive де́ лавшего де́ лавшего де́ лавших
dative де́ лавшему де́ лавшему де́ лавшим
де́ лавшей
instrumental де́ лавшим де́ лавшим де́ лавшими
prepositional де́ лавшем де́ лавшем де́ лавших

Reflexive verbs paradigm

де́ лавшийся – being done/being made

singular
plural
masculine feminine neuter
nominative де́ лавшийся де́ лавшаяся де́ лавшиеся
де́ лавшееся
accusative N or G де́ лавшуюся N or G
genitive де́ лавшегося де́ лавшегося де́ лавшихся
dative де́ лавшемуся де́ лавшемуся де́ лавшимся
де́ лавшейся
instrumental де́ лавшимся де́ лавшимся де́ лавшимися
prepositional де́ лавшемся де́ лавшемся де́ лавшихся

Passive present participle

обсуждать – to discuss
обсужда́ емый – being discussed

In order to form the passive present participle it is necessary to add an adjective ending to the 1st plural of the present tense:
 оставля́ ть (to leave) – оставля́ем (we leave) – оставля́емый

masculine form оставля́ емый

feminine form оставля́ емая
neuter form оставля́ емое
plural form оставля́ емые

Examples
1st person plural
infinitive passive present participle
(present tense)
поздравля́ ть (to congratulate) поздравля́ ем поздравля́ емый
рисова́ ть (to draw [a picture]) рису́ ем рису́ емый
люби́ ть (to love) лю́бим лю́бимый
гнать (to race) го́ ним го́ нимый
мыть (to wash) мо́ ем мо́ емый

Exceptions
infinitive present stem passive past participle
Verbs ending in -авать
узнава́ ть (to discover) узнава́ емый
Verbs ending in -зть, -зти, -сть, -сти
везти́ (to carry [by cart or vehicle]) вез- везо́ мый
вести́ (to lead) вед- ведо́ мый
нести́ (to carry [by hand]) нес- несо́ мый
мести́ (to sweep) мет- мето́ мый
грести́ (to row) греб- гребо́ мый
красть (to steal) крад- крадо́ мый

These participles are hardly ever used in modern Russian. Normally

, they are replaced by reflexive active present participles:

рису́ ющийся instead of рису́ емый – being drawn, drawable

'мо́ ющийся' instead of мо́ емый – being washed

The forms ending in -омый are mostly obsolete. Only the forms ведо́ мый (from вести́ – to lead) and иско́ мый (from иска́ ть – to search, to look for) are used in the spoken
language as adjectives:

ведо́ мый челове́ к – a slave man

иско́ мая величина́ – the unknown quantity

Passive past participle

сде́ лать – to do/to make (perfective verb)

сде́ ланный – done/made

Passive past participles are formed by means of the suffixes '-нн-' or '-т-' from the infinitive stem of perfective verbs. Besides that, this kind of participle can have short forms formed
by means of the suffixes '-н-' or '-т-':

написа́ ть (to write) – напи́ санный (written) / напи́ сан (short form)

уби́ ть (to kill) – уби́ тый (killed) / уби́ т (short form)

full form short form

masculine напи́ санный напи́ сан
feminine напи́ санная напи́ сана
neuter напи́ санное напи́ сано
plural напи́ санные напи́ саны

full form short form

masculine уби́ тый уби́ т
feminine уби́ тая уби́ та
neuter уби́ тое уби́ то
plural уби́ тые уби́ ты
 Participle-forming models (for perfect verbs)
infinitive participle short forms
Verbs in -ать, -ять, -еть with a present stem ending in a vowel
сде́ лать (to do, do make) сде́ ланный сде́ лан
поменя́ ть (to change) поме́ нянный поме́ нян
нарисова́ ть (to draw) нарисо́ ванный нарисо́ ван
услы́ шать (to hear) услы́ шанный услы́ шан
написа́ ть (to write) напи́ санный напи́ сан
погреба́ ть (to bury) погребённый погребён, погребена́ , погребено́ , погребены́
Verbs ending in -ить and -еть referred to the second conjugation
пожа́ рить (to fry) пожа́ ренный пожа́ рен
уви́ деть (to see) уви́ денный уви́ ден
оби́ деть (to offend) оби́ женный оби́ жен
оплати́ ть (to pay) опла́ ченный опла́ чен
порази́ ть (to amaze) поражённый поражён, поражена́ , поражено́ , поражены́
спроси́ ть (to ask) спро́ шенный спро́ шен
прости́ ть (to forgive) прощённый прощён, прощена́ , прощено́ , прощены́
проломи́ ть (to break in) проло́ мленный проло́ млен
установи́ ть (to install, to set up) устано́ вленный устано́ влен
истреби́ ть (to exterminate) истреблённый истреблён, истреблена́ , истреблено́ , истреблены́
купи́ ть (to buy) ку́пленный ку́плен
Verbs ending in -зть, -сть, -зти or -сти
сгрызть (to chew) сгры́ зенный сгры́ зен
укра́ сть (to steal) укра́ денный укра́ ден
проче́ сть (to read) прочтённый прочтён, прочтена́ , прочтено́ , прочтены́
увезти́ (to drive away) увезённый увезён, увезена́ , увезено́ , увезены́
увести́ (to take away) уведённый уведён, уведена́ , уведено́ , уведены́
подмести́ (to sweep) подметённый подметён, подметена́ , подметено́ , подметены́
унести́ (to carry away) унесённый унесён, унесена́ , унесено́ , унесены́
Verbs ending in -чь
испе́ чь (to bake) испечённый испечён, испечена́ , испечено́ , испечены́
сбере́ чь (to save) сбережённый сбережён, сбережена́ , сбережено́ , сбережены́
Verbs ending in -йти
найти́ (to find) на́ йденный на́ йден
Verbs ending in -нуть
согну́ ть (to bend) со́ гнутый со́ гнут
Verbs ending in -оть
уколо́ ть (to prick) уко́ лотый уко́ лот
Verbs ending in -ыть
намы́ть (to wash) намы́тый намы́т
забы́ ть (to forget) забы́ тый забы́ т
Verbs ending in бить, вить, лить, пить, шить
уби́ ть (to kill) уби́ тый уби́ т

Adverbial participle
Adverbial participles (деепричастия) are not declined, quite like usual adverbs. They inherit the aspect of their verb; imperfective ones are usually present, while perfective ones can
be only past (since they denote action performed by the subject, the tense corresponds to time of action denoted by verb). Almost all Russian adverbial participles are active; to form
passive constructions, adverbial participle forms of verb быть (past бывши, present будучи) may be used with either adjectival participle in instrumental case (Будучи раненным,
боец оставался в строю – Combatant, being wounded, remained in the row), or short adjective in nominative (Бывши один раз наказан, он больше так не делал – Having been
punished once, he didn't do it any more).

Present adverbial participles are formed by adding suffix -а/-я (sometimes -учи/-ючи which is usually deprecated) to present-tense stem. Few of past participles (mainly of intransitive
verbs of motion) are formed in similar manner. Most past adverbial participles are formed with suffix -в (alternative form -вши, always used before -сь), some with stem ending with a
consonant, with -ши. Reciprocal ones have suffix -сь at their very end (in poetry can appear as -ся).[25][26]
Adverbial participles in standard Russian are believed to be feature of bookish speech; in colloquial language they are usually replaced with single adjectival participles or
constructions with verbs: Пообедав, я пошёл гулять → Я пообедал и пошёл гулять ("I had dinner and went for a walk"). But in some dialects adverbial and adjectival participles are
common to produce perfect forms which are not distinguished in literary Russian; e.g. "I haven't eaten today" will be "Я
егодня
с не евши" instead of "Я сегодня не ела".

Adverbial participles
infinitive present tense present adverbial participle past adverbial participle

думать (to think, impf.) думаю думая (думав)[tavp 1]

сказать (to say, pf.) — — сказав (сказавши)

учиться (to be learning, impf.) учусь учась (учившись)[tavp 1]

научиться (to learn, pf.) — — научившись

войти (to enter, pf.) — — войдя (вошед,[tavp 2] вошедши)

сплести (to weave, pf.) — — сплётши (сплетя)

ехать (to ride/to drive, impf.) еду (ехав, ехавши)[tavp 1] (едучи)[tavp 3]

1. Rare but existing forms; they appear e.g. in negative sentences:как Он знает Писания, не учившись?(John
7:15).
2. Deprecated irregular form.
[27]
3. Mentioned by explorers other than Zaliznyak as still alive and neutral -учи form.

Irregular verbs

Russian verb paradigm

брать1 ви́ деть2 дава́ ть1 дать3 есть3 жить1 звать1 идти́ 1 писа́ ть2
give
English take see give eat live call go write
(pf.)
1st singular беру́ ви́ жу даю́ дам ем живу́ зову́ иду́ пишу́
2nd singular берёшь ви́ дишь даёшь дашь ешь живёшь зовёшь идёшь пи́ шешь
3rd singular берёт ви́ дит даёт даст ест живёт зовёт идёт пи́ шет
1st plural берём ви́ дим даём дади́ м еди́ м живём зовём идём пи́ шем
2nd plural берёте ви́ дите даёте дади́ те еди́ те живёте зовёте идёте пи́ шете
3rd plural беру́ т ви́ дят даю́т даду́ т едя́ т живу́ т зову́ т иду́ т пи́ шут

брал ви́ дел дава́ л дал ел жил звал шёл писа́ л

брала́ ви́ дела дава́ ла дала́ е́ ла жила́ звала́ шла писа́ ла
past
бра́ ло ви́ дело дава́ ло да́ ло́ е́ ло жи́ ло зва́ ло шло писа́ ло
бра́ ли ви́ дели дава́ ли да́ ли е́ ли жи́ ли зва́ ли шли писа́ ли

imperative бери́ видь дава́ й дай ешь живи́ зови́ иди́ пиши́

present active participle беру́ щий ви́ дящий даю́щий – едя́ щий живу́ щий зову́ щий иду́ щий пи́ шущий
past active participle бра́ вший ви́ девший дава́ вший да́ вший е́ вший жи́ вший зва́ вший ше́ дший писа́ вший
past passive participle за́ бранный уви́ денный – да́ нный съе́ денный – по́ званный – напи́ санный
за́ бран уви́ ден дан съе́ ден по́ зван напи́ сан
past passive participle (short за́ брана уви́ дена дана́ съе́ дена по́ звана напи́ сана
– – –
forms) за́ брано уви́ дено дано́ съе́ дено по́ звано напи́ сано
за́ браны уви́ дены даны́ съе́ дены по́ званы напи́ саны

present adverbial participle беря́ ви́ дя дава́ я – едя́ живя́ зовя́ идя́ –
past adverbial participle брав ви́ дев дава́ в дав ев жив звав ше́ дши писа́ в

1These verbs all have a stem change.

2These verbs are palatalised in certain cases, namelyс → ш for all the present forms of "писа́ ть", and д → ж in the first person singular of the other verbs.
3These verbs do not conform to either the first or second conjugations.

Agglutinating compounds

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 inflectional forms may also have a special
connotation. For example:
 мысль [mɨs⁽ʲ⁾lʲ] "thought"
мысли́ шка [mɨˈs⁽ʲ⁾lʲiʂkə] "a petty, cute or a silly thought"
мысли́ ща [mɨˈs⁽ʲ⁾lʲiɕːə] "a thought of fundamental import"
мышле́ ние [mɨˈʂlʲenʲɪjə] "thought, abstract thinking, reasoning"
мы́слить [ˈmɨs⁽ʲ⁾lʲɪtʲ] "to think (as to cogitate)"
мы́слящий [ˈmɨs⁽ʲ⁾lʲɪɕːɪj] "thinking, intellectual" (adjective)
мы́слимый [ˈmɨs⁽ʲ⁾lʲɪmɨj] "conceivable, thinkable"
мы́сленно [ˈmɨs⁽ʲ⁾lʲɪn(ː)ə] "mentally, in a mental manner"
смысл [smɨsl] "meaning" (noun)
осмы́слить [ɐˈsmɨs⁽ʲ⁾lʲɪtʲ] "to comprehend, to conceive; to grasp" (perfect)
осмы́сливать [ɐˈsmɨs⁽ʲ⁾lʲɪvətʲ] "to be in the process of comprehending" (continuous)
переосмы́слить [pʲɪrʲɪɐˈsmɨs⁽ʲ⁾lʲɪtʲ] "to reassess, to reconsider"
переосмы́сливать [pʲɪrʲɪɐˈsmɨs⁽ʲ⁾lʲɪvətʲ] "to be in the process of reassessing (something)"
переосмы́сливаемые [pʲɪrʲɪɐˈsmɨs⁽ʲ⁾lʲɪvəjɪmɨje] "(something or someone plural) in the process of being reconsidered"
бессмы́слица [bʲɪˈsmɨs⁽ʲ⁾lʲɪtsə] "nonsense"
обессмы́слить [ɐbʲɪˈsmɨs⁽ʲ⁾lʲɪtʲ] "to render meaningless"
бессмы́сленный [bʲɪˈsmɨs⁽ʲ⁾lʲɪnːɨj] "meaningless"
обессмы́сленный [ɐbʲɪˈsmɨs⁽ʲ⁾lʲɪnːɨj] "rendered meaningless"
необессмы́сленный [nʲɪəbʲɪˈsmɨs⁽ʲ⁾lʲɪnːɨj] "not rendered meaningless"

Russian has also proven friendly toagglutinative compounds. As an extreme case:

металло̀ ломообеспече́ ние [mʲɪtəlɐˌlomɐɐbʲɪsʲpʲeˈtɕɪnʲjɪ] "provision of scrap metal"

металло̀ ломообеспе́ ченный [mʲɪtəlɐˌlomɐɐbʲɪˈsʲpʲetɕɪnːɨj] "well supplied with scrap metal"
Purists (as Dmitry Ushakov in the preface to his dictionary) frown on such words. But here is the name of a street inSt. Petersburg:

Каменноостровский проспект [ˌkamʲɪnːɐɐˈstrovskʲɪj prɐˈsʲpʲekt] "Stone Island Avenue"

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

управдом [ʊprɐˈvdom] = управляющий домом [ʊprɐˈvlʲӕjʉɕːɪj ˈdoməm] "residence manager"

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. (I went to the shop;I went to the shop.)

Я в магазин пошёл. (I to the shop went; approx.I am going out, my destination is the shop.)
Пошёл я в магазин. (Went I to the shop; two meanings: can be treated as a beginning of a narrated story:"Went I to the shop, and something happened." or a
decision made by someone after a long contemplation:"OK, I think I will go the shop.")
Пошёл в магазин я. (Went to the shop I; rarely used, can be treated as a beginning of a line of a poem written in amphibrach due to uncommon word order
.)
В магазин я пошёл. (To the shop I went; two meanings: can be used as a response: "I went to the shop." – "Sorry , where did you go?" –"To the shop—that's
where I went." or an emphasis on the way of transportation:I went to the shop on foot.)
В магазин пошёл я. (To the shop went I; It was me who went to the shop.)
while maintaining grammatical correctness. Note, however
, that the order of the phrase "в магазин" ("to the shop") is kept constant.

The word order can express the logical stress, and the degree of definiteness. Primary emphasis tends to be initial, with a slightly weaker emphasis at the end. Note that some of these
arrangements can describe present actions, not only past (despite the fact that the verb
пошёл is in the past).

Impersonal sentences
Russian is a null-subject language – it allows constructing sentences without subject (Russian: безличные предложения). Some of them are disputed not to be really impersonal but to
[28]
have oblique subject. One possible classification of such sentences distinguishes:

Subjectless impersonals
Such ones where no element could pretend to be a subject:

Смеркалось. 'It got dusky.'

В Москве полночь. 'It's midnight in Moscow.'

They contain an impersonal verb (which is in form of single third-person or single neutral).
Dative impersonals
Usually express personal feelings, where experiencer in dative case can possibly be considered as subject:

Мнеdat. скучно. 'I'm bored.'

Other impersonals
They have nominal element which is neither nominative nor dative, but also is a nominal verb argument:

Меняacc. тошнит. 'I feel sick.'

Васюacc. ударило токомinstr.. 'Vasya had an electric shock.'

Negation

Multiple Negatives
Unlike in standard English, multiple negatives are compulsory in Russian, as in "никто никогда никому ничего не прощает" [nʲɪkˈto nʲɪkɐɡˈda nʲɪkɐˈmu nʲɪtɕɪˈvo nʲɪ prɐɕˈɕæjɪt]
('No-one ever forgives anyone for anything' literally, "no one never to no-one nothing does not forgive"). Usually, only one word in a sentence has negative particle or prefix "не" or
belongs to negative word "нет", while another words have negation-affirmative particle or prefix "ни"; but this word can often be easily omitted, and thus ни becomes the signal of
negation: вокруг никого нет and вокруг никого both mean "there is nobody around".

Adverbial answers
As a one-word answer to anaffirmative sentence, yes translates да and no translates нет, as shown by the table below.

Answer to an affirmative sentence

English Russian
First speaker It's raining Идёт дождь
Yes Да
Agreeing with speaker (rain is falling)
= it's raining = идёт дождь
No Нет
Disagreeing with speaker (rain is not falling)
= it's not raining = дождь не идёт

There is no simple rule for giving an adverbial answer to a negative sentence. B. Comrie[29] says that in Russian answer да or нет is determined not so much by the negative form of
the question as by the questioner's intent of using negation, or whether the response is in agreement with his presupposition. In many cases that means that adverbial answer should be
extended for avoiding ambiguity; in spoken language, intonation in saying нет can also be significant to if it isfirmation
af of negation ornegation of negation.

Answer to a negative question

Positive answer Negative answer
Question Interpretation
what was negated is declared what was negated is refused

Не желаете ли печенья?
Would you like to have some
cookies?
Не задумывались ли вы
над этим?
Haven't you ever considered
this?
Так что, не берёте?
So, you definitely won't buy
it?
Ты ведь не сердишься на
меня?
But you are not angry with
me, are you?
Да, пожалуйста. Нет, спасибо.
Negation is used only for more politeness
Yes, please. No, thank you.
Presence of a negative particle is conditioned by Да, задумывался. Нет, не задумывался.
expectation of a positive answer Yes, I have. No, I haven't.
Да, не берём (less common). / Нет,
Нет, берём.
Negation is forced by presumption of negative answer не берём.
No, but we buy it.
No, we won't buy it.
Нет, я на тебя сержусь. / Нет, не сержусь. / Да, не сержусь
Negation is only hoped for, rather than expected Да, сержусь. (less common).
Yes, I am angry with you. No, I am not angry.

Note that while expressing an affirmation of negation by extending "да" with a negated verb is grammatically acceptable, in practice it is more common to answer "нет" and
subsequently extend with a negated verb paralleling the usage in English. Also, when answering a negative sentence with a non-extended "нет", it is usually interpreted as an
affirmation of negation again in a way similar to English.

Alternatively, both positive and negative simple questions easily can be answered by simply repeating the predicate with or without не, especially if да/нет is ambiguous: in the latest
example, "Сержусь." or "Не сержусь."

Coordination
The most common types of coordination expressed by compound sentences in Russian are conjoining, oppositional, and separative. Additionally, the Russian grammar considers
comparative, complemental, and clarifying. Other flavors of meaning 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 complementary flavors). Most
commonly the conjoining coordination expresses enumeration,simultaneity or immediate sequence. They may also have a cause-ef
fect 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 semantic flavor of the oppositional one.

Common coordinatingconjunctions include:

и [i] "and", enumerative, complemental;

а [a] "and", comparative, tending to "but";
но [no] "but", oppositional;
ибо [ˈibə] (bookish, archaic) "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, [ɐˈnʲi ʊˈjexəlʲɪ] they have departed

и мы уезжаем [ɪ ˈmɨ ʊjɪˈʑʑӕjɪm] and we are departing
они уехали, [ɐˈnʲi ʊˈjexəlʲɪ] they have departed,
а мы уезжаем [ɐ ˈmɨ ʊjɪˈʑʑӕjɪm] while (but) we are (still) departing
они уехали, [ɐˈnʲi ʊˈjexəlʲɪ] they have departed,
но мы приезжаем [no ˈmɨ prʲɪjɪˈʑʑӕjɪm] but we are arriving
The distinction between "и" and "а" developed after medieval times. 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" [knʲɪˈzʲjam ˈslavə ɐ druˈʐɨnʲɪ ɐˈmʲinʲ] can be understood either as "Glory to the princes and to their retinue! Amen." or "Glory
to the princes, and amen (R.I.P.) to their retinue". Although the majority opinion is definitely with the first interpretation, there is no
full consensus. The psychological difference between the two is quite obvious.

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

если [ˈjesʲlʲɪ] 'if' (meaning 'in case where' not meaning 'whether');
потому что [pətɐˈmu ʂtə], так как [tak kak] 'because' The Catherine manuscript of the
чтобы [ˈʂtobɨ], дабы [ˈdabɨ] (bookish, archaic) 'so that' Song of Igor, 1790s
после того, как [ˈposʲlʲɪ tɐˈvo kək] 'after'
хотя [xɐˈtʲa] 'although'
In general, there are fewer subordinate clauses than in English, because the participles and adverbial participles often take the place of a relative pronoun/verb combination. For
example:

Here (is) a man

Вот человек, [vot tɕɪlɐˈvʲek]
who has lost (all) hope.
потерявший надежду. [pətʲɪˈrʲavʂɨj nɐˈdʲeʐdʊ] [lit. having lost hope]
When I go for a walk in the city, I always
Гуляя по городу, всегда [ɡʊˈlʲӕjɪ pɐ ˈɡorədʊ vsʲɪɡˈda]
pause by the Rostral Columns.
останавливаюсь у Ростральных колонн. [ɐstɐˈnavlʲɪvəjʉsʲ ʊ rɐˈstralʲnɨx kɐˈlon]
[lit. Walking in the city, I...]

Absolute construction
Despite the inflectional 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 [pʊtʲɪˈʂɛstvʲɪjɪ ɪs pʲɪtʲɪrˈburɡə v mɐˈskvu]), 1790:

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

See also
List of Russian language topics
Reduplication in the Russian language

Notes
1. Nesset (2008) applied Leonard Talmy's (1985, 2000) terms "manner" and "path" to her image schema for Russian verbs of motion.
2. Researchers have also included the reflexive verbs атиться/кататься,
к гнаться/гоняться, нестись/носиться, and тащиться/таскаться (Gagarina 2009: 451–
452).

References
1. (in Russian) Zaliznyak A. A. "Русское именное словоизменение." Moscow.: Science, 1967
2. (in Russian) Uspenskij V. A. "К определению падежа по А. Н. Колмогорову // Бюллетень объединения по проблемам машинного перевода." Issue. 5.
Moscow., 1957 online copy (http://www.kolmogorov.pms.ru/uspensky-k_opredeleniyu_padezha_po_kolmogorovu.html)
3. (in Russian) Klobukov E. V. "Семантика падежных форм в современном русском литературном языке. (Введение в методику позиционного анализа)"
Moscow: Moscow State University Press, 1986.
4. "The Cases of Russian Nouns"(http://masterrussian.com/aa071600a.shtml). Master Russian. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
5. "Russian case functions in brief"(http://www.alphadictionary.com/rusgrammar/casefunc.html). alphaDictionary. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
 6. http://www.rusdec.com
7. Translated from the Russian by V. Korotky
8. Е. И. Литневская. Русский язык. Краткий теоретический курс для школьников (http://learning-russian.gramota.ru/book/litnevskaya.html)БСМП "ЭЛЕКС-
Альфа", 2000
9. Илья Бирман. Хитрые падежи русского языка (http://ilyabirman.ru/meanwhile/all/cases/)
10. These are adjectives and not adverbs, since they can't modify verbs.
11. Современный русский язык / Под ред. В. А. Белошапковой.
12. Corbett, Greville G. (June 1987)."The Morphology/Syntax Interface: Evidence from Possessive Adjectives in Slavonic" (http://www3.surrey.ac.uk/LIS/SMG/Morph
syntaxInterface.pdf) (PDF). Language. 2. 63: 11, 12. doi:10.2307/415658 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F415658). Retrieved 13 December 2013.
13. Collective numerals for more than 7 are seldom used.
14. In very bookish speech also can appear plural third-person form суть; it's often misused by some native Russian writers who don't know what this word really is.
15. Björn Rothstein; Rolff Thieroff (2010). Mood in the Languages of Europe(https://www.google.com/books?hl=ru&lr=&id=o3L8oKcbZtoC&oi=fnd&pg=PA325&dq=m
oods+of+russian+verbs&ots=K01mOEZugO&sig=yeaDJjhHzEbBS41KtYCC_NxdCDE&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=moods%20of%20russian%20verbs&f=false) .
John Benjamins Publishing. p. 326.
16. Russian verbs: How to form the imperative(http://www.russian-language-for-lovers.com/russian-verbs.html#five)
17. Gor, K., Cook, S., Malyushenkova, V., & Vdovina, T (2009). "Verbs of Motion in Highly Proficient Learners and Heritage Speakers of Russian".
The Slavic and
East European Journal. 53 (3): 386–408. JSTOR 40651163 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/40651163).
18. Talmy, Leonard (1985). "Lexicalization Patterns: Semantic Structure in Lexical Forms". In
Timothy Shopen. Language Typology and Syntactic Description, vol. 3.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 57–149.
19. Nesset, Tore (2008). "Path and Manner: An mage-Schematic
I Approach to Russian Verbs of Motion". Scando-Slavica. 54 (1): 135–158.
doi:10.1080/00806760802494232(https://doi.org/10.1080%2F00806760802494232) .
20. Muravyova, L (1986). V. Korotky, ed. Verbs of Motion in Russian / Glagoly dviženija v russkom jazyke (5 ed.). Moscow: Russkij jazyk. pp. 211–212, 218–225.
21. Wade, Terence (2011). A Comprehensive Russian Grammar(2 ed.). Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
22. Hasko, Victoria (2010). "Semantic Composition of Motion Verbs in Russian and English". In Renee Perelmutter
. New Approaches to Slavic Verbs of Motion.
Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company . pp. 197–224.
23. Mahota, William (1996).Russian Motion Verb for Intermediate Students. New Haven: Yale University Press.
24. Classification of participles(http://russianlearn.com/grammar/category/classification)
25. Paul Cubberley (2002).Russian: A Linguistic Introduction(https://www.google.com/books?hl=ru&lr=&id=yOGzAyN3V88C&oi=fnd&pg=PR10&dq=Russian+adverbi
al+participles&ots=mSY4jOtgER&sig=KlSffPm2KMRoSTKsaS20Abc7giA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Russian%20adverbial%20participles&f=false) . Cambridge
University Press. pp. 162, 164.ISBN 0-521-79641-5.
26. А. А. Камынина (1999).Современный русский язык. Морфология. Издательство МГУ. p. 180. ISBN 5-211-04133-X.
27. "Деепричастие" (http://rusgram.ru/Деепричастие). Русская корпусная грамматика. Retrieved 2013-09-26.
28. Bailyn, John F. (2012). The Syntax of Russian(https://www.google.com/books?hl=ru&lr=&id=_Zvx-uS7eaoC&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=russian+syntax&ots=Gduql5IH
GJ&sig=RKJNY-9V05X5bygJIiUbOkCZ4E0&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=russian%20syntax&f=false) . Cambridge University Press. pp. 115–118.ISBN 978-0-521-
88574-4.
29. Comrie, Bernard (1984)."Russian" (https://www.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=f9rTJlYRqTQC&oi=fnd&pg=PA7&dq=colloquial+russian+speech&ots=yui35Wgv
m-&sig=JQ35TRc_WDN6AFSHlkAJ2ZryCLs&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=colloquial%20russian%20speech&f=false) . Typological studies in language. 4
(Interrogativity: A Colloquium on the Grammar
, Typology, and Pragmatics of Questions in Seven Diverse Languages, Cleveland, Ohio, October 5th, 1981 – May
3rd, 1982): 36–37.

External links
Interactive On-line Reference Grammar of Russian
Wikibooks Russian
Gramota.ru – dictionaries
Wiktionary has word entries in Cyrillic with meanings and grammatical analysis in English
Russian Wiktionary gives word meanings and grammatical analysis in Russian
Russian grammar overview with practice tests
Over 400 links to Russian Grammar articles around the Net
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