Немно́го о языке́ 4.6 Хочу́ рассказа́ть о Же́не
More -ся verbs
In this section of the story, you meet three additional verbs with –ся.
- роди́ться = to be born
- познако́миться = to become acquainted
- удивля́ться = to be surprised (stem: удивля́й- ся)
With these new verbs, you can begin to see the contribution that the particle -ся makes in the verbs’ meaning. For example, if you leave off the –ся particle on the verb роди́ться=to be born, you will get роди́ть = to give birth.
Both of the sentences below are grammatically possible in Russian, but one expresses a really sensational news item. Which one is it?
- Дени́с роди́лся в Яросла́вле.
- Дени́с роди́л в Яросла́вле.
Упражне́ние 1
Вы хорошо́ зна́ете исто́рию? Match the well-known figures with the years of their birth. The gender of the verb forms can give you an extra clue in matching.
Past Forms of the Verb быть (to be)
You know Russian does not use the verb “to be” in the present tense for nominal sentences (She is a doctor = Она́ врач. /He is a teacher = Он учи́тель) or locations (We are at home. = Мы до́ма.). However, in the past and future tenses in these kinds of sentences Russian does express the forms of “to be.” In this unit you will learn the past tense forms of “to be” быть, in Russian. To make the past tense forms, take the infinitive быть, remove the -ть, and add the regular endings –л, -ла, -ло, -ли.
These forms are also the past tense of есть (there is, there are) in “having” sentences, because есть is a present tense form of the verb быть.
| быть (- ть + л) | ||
|---|---|---|
| он | был | he/it was |
| она́ | была́ | she/it was |
| оно́ | бы́ло | it was |
| они́ | бы́ли | they were |
Упражне́ние 2
A man and woman standing behind you were speaking in Russian talking about where they've been recently. You can't see who is talking but you can tell from the grammar who must be the speaker. Select whether the speaker is a man or a woman.
Stress in the Past Tense Forms.
For most verbs, the stress in past tense verb forms tends to be on the same syllable as in the infinitive. However, in many verbs that have a one-syllable infinitive (жить, быть, пить), the feminine past-tense forms often have stress on the ending -ла́: она́ жила́, она́ была́, она́ пила́.
A few verbs like родиться will have stress on all the endings in the past tense.
Note the past tense stress patterns below.
Verb пить (stem: пьй-)
The verb “to drink” in Russian is пить. It takes a first-conjugation verb endings, and its stem is: пьй-. In the я and они́ forms, the –й at the end of the stem combines with the endings –у and –ут to spell: я пью, они́ пью́т.
Note on Pronunciation
Listen to the difference between these pairs of words and try to match the pronunciation you hear.
Talking About People and Things: The Preposition о + Prepositional Case
You already know that the prepositional case can be used with prepositions в and на to express location. It can also be used with the preposition о to express the meaning “about.”
Упражне́ние 3
Read the questions below about our characters and pick the answer you think likely.
Review the sentences above. What do you notice about the spelling of the preposition о?
Check your observation.
Pointing Things Out: э́то and э́тот, э́та, э́то, э́ти
From the opening episode “Ама́нда Ли,” you have seen sentences where the unchanging particle э́то combines with a noun to form a complete sentence. This э́то is the equivalent of the English phrases “it is, this is, they are, these are.”
- Э́то чемода́н. = It/This is a suitcase.
- Э́то на́ша кварти́ра. = It/This is our apartment.
- Э́то моё полоте́нце. = It/This is my towel.
- Э́то на́ши студе́нты. = They/These are our students.
In this unit, we introduce you to the modifier э́тот which points out a specific object and is the equivalent of English demonstrative pronoun “this” or “that.” Like other modifiers in Russian, э́тот has forms to agree with the noun it modifies in gender, number, and case (masculine = э́тот, feminine = э́та, neuter = э́то, plural = э́ти in the nominative case). Look at the example sentences below and compare them with their English equivalents.
- Э́тот чемода́н не наш. = This suitcase isn’t ours.
- Э́та кварти́ра нахо́дится на пя́том этаже́. = That apartment is on the fifth floor.
- Э́то зада́ние бы́ло на страни́це 10. = This assignment was on page 10.
- Э́ти студе́нты хорошо́ зна́ют го́род. = Those students know the city well.
Notice how these forms of the modifier э́тот combine directly with a noun in these sentences to create modifier+noun phrases. These modifier+noun phrases by themselves do not express complete sentences.
- э́тот чемода́н = this suitcase …
- э́та кварти́ра = this apartment …
- э́ти студе́нты = these students …
These phrases need to be used with other words to express complete thoughts.
With neuter nouns, the form э́то is ambiguious:
- э́то сочине́ние … = this composition …
- Э́то сочине́ние. = This is a composition.
With neuter nouns, you will need to look at the rest of the sentence context to know whether the phrase expresses a complete thought and is a sentence “This is a composition.” or whether it is a noun phrase “this composition” waiting for the rest of the sentence to make a complete thought.
Упражне́ние 4
Read the sentences and decide whether you need the form э́то (this is) or a form of the modifier э́тот (this).
The modifier э́тот can occur in other case forms as well as the nominative. The table below summarizes the forms.
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | э́тот | э́та | э́то | э́ти |
| Genitive | э́того | э́той | э́того | coming later |
| Accusative - inanimate | э́тот | э́ту | э́то | э́ти |
| Prepositional | э́том | э́той | э́том | coming later |
Introduction to the Connecting Word "кото́рый" in the Nominative Case
In the episode Идеа́льная ча́шка, Amanda explains to Zhenya where she is going to graduate school:
| Я учу́сь в аспиранту́ре в университе́те Ю́жной Калифо́рнии, кото́рый нахо́дится в Лос-А́нджелесе. | I am a graduate student at the University of Southern California, which is located in Los Angeles. |
Since she’s uncertain whether Zhenya knows where the university is, Amanda adds the descriptive clause “which is located in Los Angeles” to her sentence. Descriptive clauses like this modify a noun and are introduced by the word кото́рый in Russian.
Look carefully at the ending of кото́рый. Based on what you know of Russian grammar so far, decide which statement is most likely to be true.
The endings on the connector кото́рый will depend on the gender and number of the noun that the whole clause is describing. In the example above, the ending on кото́рый is masculine and singular since it agrees with the noun университе́те, which is masculine and singular. Consider the next examples and determine which noun the ‘кото́рый’clause describes. When you click on the correct word, an explanation of the agreement will appear.
- Ке́йтлин живёт в но́вой кварти́ре, кото́рая нахо́дится недалеко́ от библиоте́ки.
- Студе́нты, кото́рые у́чатся на филологи́ческом факульте́те, жи́вут в общежи́тии но́мер 6.
- Ра́ньше мы жи́ли в общежи́тии, кото́рое находи́лось далеко́ от це́нтра.
- Вы зна́ете студе́нта, кото́рый чита́ет журна́лы в библиоте́ке?
- То́ни живёт в го́роде, кото́рый нахо́дится на реке́ Во́лга.
Question Words in Russian:
You have now seen a number of question words in Russian.
- кто? = who?
- что? = what?
- где? = where?
- почему́? = why?
- отку́да? = from where?
- чей? = whose?
- како́й? = what kind? which one?
The question words кто? (= who?) and что? (= what) are pronouns, and like other pronouns, they can occur in cases other than the nominative. The chart below will show you the forms of each in the four cases that you know and give you examples of usage.
| Cases and Their Uses | Who? | What? |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative (Subject of sentence) |
кто? | что? |
| Кто э́то говори́т? | Что есть в ко́мнате? | |
| Genitive (Possession with у; Absence with нет) |
кого́? | чего́? |
| У кого́ есть но́вая маши́на? Кого́ сего́дня нет на заня́тии? |
Чего́ нет в ко́мнате? | |
| Accusative (Direct objects; with verb phrase игра́ть в for games) |
кого́? | что? |
| Кого́ вы зна́ете? | Что вы зна́ете об Ама́нде? Во что вы игра́ете? |
|
| Prepositional (Location with prepositions в and на; topic with preposition "о") |
о ком? | о чём? |
| О ком вы ча́сто ду́маете? | О чём вы говори́ли? |
Strategy Tip
How to Determine the Case of "кто?"/"что?" When Formulating Questions
If you are having trouble figuring out what case you need when formulating a question in Russian, start out by expressing the same idea as a statement with a form of он, она or оно́. The question words кто? and что? will need to go in the same case as the pronoun in the statement.
| Whom did you see? | ____ вы ви́дели? |
| You saw him | Вы ви́дели... [он | его́ | о нём] |
In the example above, the accusative pronoun его́ (him) completes the rephrased statement because the verb видели requires a direct object. So now you know that you will need the accusative case of the question word: Кого́ вы ви́дели? If you wanted to ask "What did you see?" that would be Что вы ви́дели?
The question might also require a preposition and a specific case form.
| About whom did you talk? | _____ вы говори́ли? |
| You talked about her. | Вы говори́ли... [он | его́ | о ней] |
Only the form о ней (about her) completes the rephrased statement since the verb говори́ли requires the complement “about something/someone.” So now you know that you will need the prepositional form of the question word with the preposition о: О ком вы говори́ли?. If you wanted to ask "About what are you talking?" that would be О чём вы говори́ли?
Noticing
In conversational English a question can end with a preposition. In the Russian sentence the preposition in the question is:
- at the end of the sentence.
- at the start of the sentence together with the question word.
Упражне́ние 5. People Versus Things.
Listen to the questions below and select the word that would best answer the question. Be sure to listen for which question word кто? or что? starts the question.