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Some Very Demonstrative Russian Pronouns

Some Very Demonstrative Russian Pronouns

We are assuming at this point that you have mastered (more or less) the personal and possessive pronouns. The next type of pronoun you need to have under your belt before you can babble away incessantly in Russian are the demonstrative pronouns. Here comes everything anyone could ever want to know about them. First you need to realize that, just as it turned out that you knew all the endings on the possessive pronouns, you already know all the endings on the demonstrative pronouns—they are the same as those of the possessive. That is, the demonstrative pronouns follow the that the nominative-accusative endings are the same as nouns of the same gender and all other endings are the same as the corresponding adjective endings. Take a look at это "this" and то "that" in Russian. Personal Pronoun Declensions: 1st & 2nd Persons Case Singular Plural Mas/Neu Feminine эти те Nominative этот, это эта эти те Accusative Nom/Gen эту Nom/Gen Nom/Gen Genitive этого этот этих тех Dative этому этой этим тем Prepositional этим этой этих тех Instrumental этим этой этими этих The thing to notice is that except for the plural, это and то are declined identically. In fact, like all adjectives, the feminine declension had only one ending, -ой for all the singular cases other than nominative-accusative. You only have to look out for the plural: in the plural то uses a different vowel than the adjectives (and это), e rather than ы or и. Also notice that это uses the soft variant и in the plural even though it declines like a hard stem in the singular. The demonstratives то and это may be used as nouns or adjectives. In Russian you may say either 1. Это - моя лягушка. That is my frog. 2. Это - мой трактор. That is my tractor. 3. Это - мои улитки. Those are my snails. or 4. Эта лягушка - моя. That frog is mine. 5. Этот трактор - мой. That tractor is mine. 6. Эти улитки - мои. Those snails are mine. These tables tell several interesting stories. First, comparing (1-3 with (4-6), notice that in Russian there is no difference between the attributive forms like "my, your, his" and predicate forms like "mine, yours, his". There is only one set of possessive pronouns in Russian while English has one for attributive position and another for predicates. Second, getting back to the demonstratives, when это and то are used as nouns in the subject of a sentence, they remain singular even if the predicate is plural (3). However, when the demonstratives are used as adjectives, they must agree with the noun they modify as in (4-6). Finally, notice in (1-3) that while the default demonstrative in English is that, e.g. That is my book, in Russian the default demonstrative is этот, as in the Russian correlate Это — моя книга. So when you need to distinguish between "this" and "that", use the Russian demonstratives like the English ones. But if you just need a demonstrative and it doesn't matter which, in Russian say это. The Adverbal Demonstratives In addition to the noun and adjective demonstrative pronouns, there is a series of adverbial demonstratives meaning "that place (= there)", "that time (= then)", "that way (= thus)", "that kind of", etc. Here is the complete list (why they are called "T-K Pairs" here will become evident in the syntax review): T-K Pronominal Pairs Demonstrative Pronouns Interrogative Pronouns тот, то, та, те that, those кто? что? who, what такой, такая, такие that kind of какой? какая7 какие? what kind of так thus, so как? "how" там, туда, оттуда there, thither, thence где? куда? откуда? where, whither, whence тогда then когда? when столько that many сколько? how many потому for that reason почему? why The demonstrative adverbal pronouns are used pretty much the same as their English counterparts. The obvious exception to this is the retention of forms for "there", "thence", and "thither". These words were still in English when Shakespeare wrote, so you are probably familiar with them even though you don't use them yourself in speaking. There, like Russian tam, indicated a place where an immobile object is located. Thither indicated a place to which some object moves while thence indicates a place from which some object (uh, like a person) moves. Obviously these two are used with spoken or implied verbs of motion, e.g. Ты куда? "Where are you off to?" or Куда ты идёшь? "Where are you going?" Or, in the other direction, Ты откуда? "Where did you come from?" as opposed to Где ты? "Where are you (currently)?" The demonstrative adjectives are like no English pronoun; they are used to elicit a quality expressed in an adjective. For example, if you ask, Какая женщина — она? "What kind of woman is she?" you expect an adjective as an example, e.g. Она — умна/хорошая/задумчива "She is smart/good/contemplative." The remainder of the demonstrative pronouns are pretty much like their counterparts in English. Before we check our mastery of these concepts, there аre a couple of tricks you can do with demonstratives that might come in handy. Some Tricks Demonstratives Do for You True to their name, demonstrative pronouns exhibit a pronounced presence in the Russian language. They serve a lot of functions other than demonstrating. Two very common places you find them is in the expressions for "the same" and "the wrong". Here's how they work. Saying "the Same" in Russian. To say "the same N" in Russian, you need only add the particle же after the appropriate form of the demonstrative pronoun. For example, if someone snooty says that s/he saw the latest French film, Я видел(а), ты знаешь, тот французский фильм "I saw, you know, that French film", to put them in their place retort: Я видел(а) тот же фильм "I saw the same film"—you just add же to the тот. If some tells you that they've been to Monte Carlo, all you have to say is Я был(а) там же: "I've been to the same place". Neat, huh? And, as usual, simplissimo! Saying "Wrong" in Russian. To say "the wrong N" in Russian, you need only add the particle не before the appropriate form of the demonstrative pronoun. For example, if that same snoot who went to Monte Carlo buys a new book for a course, you can get her goat by saying, A ты взяла не ту книгу, "You got the wrong book". Or let's say you see some guy who's been bugging you coming out of the mens' room and there is a womens' room next door, just say, Ты пошёл не туда "You went to the wrong place" and test his self-confidence. Now that we have the basic principles of the demonstrative pronouns, here is an achievement recognition opportunity to appease our egos.

The Questionable Interrogative Pronouns

The Questionable Interrogative Pronouns

Now that the personal, possessive, and demonstrative pronouns have been conquered, the next type of pronoun you need to have under your belt before you can bubble pronominally in Russian are the interrogative pronouns, the ones we use to ask questions. Once you have these mastered, you can ask Russians about the remainder of the grammar of their language. Now that we have mastered (more or less) the personal, possessive, and demonstrative pronouns, the next type of pronoun you need to have under your belt before you can bubble pronominally in Russian are the interrogative pronouns, the ones we use to ask questions. Once you have these under your belt, you can ask Russians about the remainder of the grammar of their language. All the languages of the world have exactly two types of questions and that includes Russian. The first type is called a 'yes-no' question. 'Yes-no' questions beg the answer "yes" or "no" and do not require an interrogative pronoun. In English, for exmaple, if I ask you, Did you do your homework? I expect a crisp, clear answer of either yes or no, not, Uh, well, you know, uh, like, my mother doesn't, like, like me answering questions like, like, that. Sometimes I'm disappointed but my intent in asking a 'yes-no' question is clear. In other situations, however, we need to know who did what to whom if not even when and where and how. The boldface words in the previous sentence are the English interrogative pronouns; their Russian counterparts are listed on the right-hand side of the following table, taken from the demonstrative pronoun page. T-K Pronominal Pairs Demonstrative Pronouns Interrogative Pronouns тот, то, та, те that, those кто? что? who, what такой, такая, такие that kind of какой? какая7 какие? what kind of так thus, so как? "how" там, туда, оттуда there, thither, thence где? куда? откуда? where, whither, whence тогда then когда? when столько that many сколько? how many потому for that reason почему? why Notice that this table has a new member, чей "whose", that has no demonstrative correlate. That is because the answer to this interrogative pronoun must always be a personal pronoun: мой, твой, его, её, наш, ваш, их. Here are some sentences illustrating how they are used in actual questions. Кто открыл дверь? | Who opened the door? Что открыло жверь? | What opened the door? Чьяэто лягушка? | Whose frog is that? Какая это женщина? | What kind of woman is she? Как сказать по-русски [like]? | How do you say 'like' in Russian? где ты нашла его? | Where did you find him? Кудаон девался? | Where did he get to? откудаты взяла его? | Where did you get him from? Когдаон родился? | When was he born? Сколько ты хочешь взять за машину? | How much do you want for your car? Почему ты хочешь ее настолько? | Why do you want it so much? Remember that the nominal (кто, что and the adjectival pronouns (какой, чей) are sensitive to case just like lexical nouns and adjectives. The following examples illustrate this. На чем сидит твоя лягушка? What is your frog sitting on? Кому ты дал свою лягушку? To whom did you give your frog? Каким ножом он кушает? Which knife does he eat with? С чьей индейкой он идет? Whose turkey is he going with?

The Russian Relative Clauses

The Relative Pronoun КОТОРЫЙ

One type of subordinate clause in Russian is conjoined by a pronoun, the relative pronoun который "who, which, that". Actually, который behaves like a conjunction, in that is conjoins a subordinate clause, and like a pronoun in that it agrees with some noun in the main clause as well as reflects the case of the subordinate clause in which it occurs. Который introduces a sentence that modifies a noun. For this reason it has to agree in number and gender with the noun it modifies like adjectives. However, unlike regular adjectives, it does not agree with that noun in case; rather, it reflects the case of its function in the subordinate clause English has relative clauses, too. For example, There is the man whom I met yesterday. Notice that in formal English, we use the accusative whom to indicate that the relative pronoun who is the direct object of the subordinate clause. Since English does not have gender, and who does not express number, there is no agreement between whom and man. In fact, since agreement is rather marginal in English, we are free to substitute the more common conjunction "that" (the man that I met yesterday) or, indeed, omit the conjunction altogether (the man ____ I met yesterday). Russian is different in all these respects. In Russian you may use only который; you may neither substitute что or omit который. Thus, Вот мужчина, с которым я вчера познакомился is the only translation of all the English variants in the preceding paragraph. Вот мужчина, с которым я вчера познакомился There is the man who(m) I met yesterday There is the man that I met yesterday There is the man I met yesterday Moreover, notice that которым agrees in gender (masculine) and number (singular) with the noun to which it connects the subordinate clause. However, it reflects the case demanded by the preposition с, the instrumental, in the clause it introduces. Speaking of prepositions, we do an odd thing in English with prepositions that you can't do in Russian. In English, when we move the relative pronoun out to the front of the subordinate clause, we usually leave any preposition that goes with it back in its original position in the clause, e.g. Is this the man who(m) he walks to work with x every Friday? Notice that, in a sense, the who(m) belongs to the preposition with back in the middle of the subordinate clause. It sounds a little high-phaluting in English to say, Is this the man with whom he walks to work every Friday? but this is exactly the form that all Russian relative clauses MUST have: Это мужчина, с которым он ходит на работу по пятницам? It is impossible to strand prepositions in Russian sentences as we do in English because prepositions and the case they demand must stay together. Some Examples Here are a few examples for your amusement. Read them over carefully, comparing them with the translations and the agreement patterns of который and how they translate into English. Then try the study exercises that follow. Russian Relative Clauses Девушка, которая любит собак, моя подруга. The girl who loves dogs is my close friend. Пальто, которое сейчас на нем. сшила его мать. His mother sewed the coat (that) he is now wearing. Я не видел спектакль, о котором вы говорите. I didn't see the play you all are talking about. Мы приехали на автобусе, из которого Маша сейчас выходит. We arrived on the bus Masha is just now coming out of.

The Conjunction "Li"

The Conjunctions ЕСЛИ and ЛИ "If"

The subordinating conjunction ли means "if" or "whether", e.g. Sam didn't say if/whether he would come. However, the Russian conjunction is a clitic, which means it does not have an accent and therefore must attach itself to a word that does have accent. For this reason, ли is always in the second position of the clause it marks, rather than in first position like other conjunctions. Moreover, the subordinate clause it introduces requires inverted word order; that is, the verb must be moved to the beginning of the subordinate clause and ли is attached to the end of it. All other words in the sentence remain in their normal positions. The problem is that Russian has another conjunction meaning "if": если. The question then is, when do you use ли and when do you use если? Remember this: The Russian 'If' Rule If in English you may use whether, in Russian you must use ли. Otherwise, use если The same rule applies to the more dated variant of если, коли "if" and the semantic variant раз "once", e. g. Раз он придёт, мы будем веселиться Once he arrives, we'll have fun. Here are a few examples to enjoy. Read them over carefully, comparing them with the translations and noting both the selection of ли and если and the word order of sentences containing the former. Он ничего не скажет, если не хочет. He won't say anything, if he doesn't want to. Он не скажет, придёт ли он домой. He won't say if/whether he will come home. Маша прочтёт все стихи, если я скажу. Masha will read all the poetry if I tell her to. Я не уверен, прочтёт ли она все стихи. I'm not sure if/whether she will read the poetry.

http://www.rlcentre.com/materials/poka.shtml

The Russian Conjunction "Poka"

The subordinating conjunction пока means "while", "as long as", or "for the time being". It may be used alone as a farewell greeting when the speaker knows that he will be seeing the addressee soon; it is the equivalent of the English See you later. As a conjunction it refers to the duration of time, e.g. Друзья ждали, пока я ехала домой "My friends waited while I drove home." The conjunction serves to indicate that the time required to carry out the action of the verb in the subordinate clause is equal to that required to carry out the action of the verb in the main clause. An interesting gap in Russian is the lack of a conjunction meaning "until". To work around this lacuna, Russians use a special construction based on пока. Since the durational meaning of пока semantically requires an imperfective verb, Russians use this same conjunction with a negated perfective verb to express "until": Друзья ждали, пока я не приехала домой "My friends waited until I arrived home." Remember, (1) the verb must be perfective and (2) it must be negated for пока to be interpreted as "until". One final thing to keep in mind: Russian does have a preposition meaning "until": до+Gen. Don't confuse this preposition, which can only have a noun or noun phrase object, with the conjunction which connects a subordinate phrase. The until in I don't work until next week is a preposition with next week its object. Here are a few examples to mull over. Read them carefully, comparing them with the translations and notice how the meaning of пока . . . не plus the perfective somehow makes sense, meaning in the sentence above, something like "while Simone does not successfully arrive at home." Митя спокойно спал, пока профессор читал лекцию. Mitya slept peacefully while his professor lectured. Митя спокойно спал, пока профессор не прочитал лекцию. Mitya slept peacefully until the professor finished lecturing. Даря читала газету, пока Маша убирала комнату. Darya read the paper while Masha cleaned up her room. Маша читала газету, пока сестра не убрала комнату. Masha read the newspaper until her sister finished cleaning up the room.