Russian grammar?

Hello, my name is daniel and I'm a 17 year old male from California, USA...

I enjoy learning new languages and such, and learning new languages always comes very easy to me. I have so far learned to speak/write in spanish, some german, and some swedish. I also picked up some Russian while i was in Ukraine a few years back...But i've been wanting to learn to speak Russian confidently.

When i learn a new language I find it easier to learn the grammar and structure of the language and the conjugation of the words and such before learning the vocabulary.

So i was wondering if anyone knew of a good place where I can learn of the structure of the Russian language. I already know how to read Cyrillic...so that won't be a problem, i just want to know where i can go to find some good information on the Russian grammar.

thanks,
Daniel

Here's an overview with some links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_grammar

Well, if grammar doesn't frighten you, then i'd say pick up a copy of Modern Russian by Derek Offord, ISBN 1-85399-361-1. It's a pretty comprehensive book covering just about every aspect of Russian grammar. It runs a little light on verbal prefixes, but it will give you a good foundation. Then, of course, there is always the internet. I know this site has info on conjugation, tense, case declinsions, etc... If you want info on the basics, just google it and there is a wealth of info for free.

tdk

thanks guys :wink:

im planning on going to the library soon, so i'll be sure to look for that book. =)

I'd say get the New Penguin Russian Course book, by Nicholas J. Brown (definately!), it is quite heavily grammar orientated, but also teaches vocab along the way.

спасибо :wink:

Not comprehensive, but free...
http://www.alphadictionary.com/rusgrammar/

yeah i found that on one of the links someone gave me. It actually was pretty helpful. Its basically what i've been looking for.

tho this weekend imma go to the library to check out some books. because as helpful as these sites have been...none of them have *good* examples...

thanks alot! =)

ok...so i was able to find out the two regular types of verb present-tense conjugations...and also the past tense...but here are some things i don't understand:

what are the Я and Mы forms of the past tense, for example:

Сказал - he said
Сказалa - she said
Сказалo - it said
Сказали - they said

but how would you say "I said", or "we said"?

and also, for the perfective/imperfective tenses...is there any regular model to follow to conjugate the verbs in those tenses?

The past tense works this way :

verb+(а)л -> masculine (я, он, ты)
verb+ла -> feminine (я, она, ты)
verb+ло -> neuter (оно)
verb+ли -> plurial (они, мы, вы)

The conjugation for the past tense works the same way for perfective and imperfective verbs.

aaah.ok that makes much more sense now...
im used to having to learn like a million conjugations for each verb...(like in spanish)

the damn sites don't explain very well...

oh well, i'll be going to the library this weekend to get a dictionary and hopefully a good book

thanks for the help. :wink:

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Originally Posted by zomby_pengy

aaah.ok that makes much more sense now...
im used to having to learn like a million conjugations for each verb...(like in spanish)

the damn sites don't explain very well...

oh well, i'll be going to the library this weekend to get a dictionary and hopefully a good book

thanks for the help. :wink:

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Russian past tense is easy because it only changes for gender and number, not for each person like e.g. Spanish.

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Originally Posted by zomby_pengy

aaah.ok that makes much more sense now...
im used to having to learn like a million conjugations for each verb...(like in spanish)

...

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Simply because English conjugation is a snap when comes to the verbs ending, what may make the conjugation of some other languages look more difficult to learn for English native speakers.

Does anyone know where I can find a good Russian-English dictionary online?

I have a few Russian books - one by Dostoevsky and a Russian Bible - that i want to use to help myself learn Russian, thought this concept is useless without a good dictionary to help me learn new words, etc.

I've searched on Google a few times, but I can't descern which ones are acurate and which ones are not.

You don't learn a language by getting works of high literature and then sifting through them with a dictionary.

You shouldn't even think about touching Dostoevsky for about 18 months at least.

hmmm....

Perhaps dostoevsky wouldn't be the best choice, seeing as I can barely understand the english versions of his books. :P

I dont plan on learning the language by reading literature, it merely helps to widen my vocabulary, and also helps me to get used to reading the language.

It has helped me alot with other languages I've learned.

so im practicing verbs of motion. please correct me if i'm wrong:

Мать завезёт меня на работу. "my mother is dropping me off at work today."
Мать завезла меня на работу. "my mother already dropped me off at work."
Мать завозит меня на работу. "my mother drops me off at work every week."

Я прилетел на Украина. "I am flying to Ukraine today."
Я подлетел к Украина. "I arrived in Ukraine already."
Я прилетайю на Украина. "I fly to Ukraine repeatedly."

Мать уидёт из меня. "My mother is leaving my home right now."
Мать ушёла из меня. "My mother already left my home."
Мать уходит меня "My mother leaves my home every day."

Мать завезёт меня на работу. "my mother is dropping me off at work today."
Мать завезла меня на работу. "my mother already dropped me off at work."
Мать завозит меня на работу. "my mother drops me off at work every week."

Я лечу на Украину. "I am flying to Ukraine today." - OR Я прилетаю на Украину сегодня.
Я прилетел на Украину. "I arrived in Ukraine already." (your sentence meant that you're flying on a plane and have just approached the Ukraine's border).
Я летаю на Украину. "I fly to Ukraine repeatedly." (the verb прилетаю doesn't convey the idea of the constancy of the fact thay you fly to the Ukraine repeatedly).

Мать уходит от меня. "My mother is leaving my home right now."
Мать ушла от меня. "My mother already left my home."
Мать уходит от меня. "My mother leaves my home every day."
I think that мама would work better in your sentences :wink:

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Originally Posted by zomby_pengy

Мать уходит меня

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"Mother will wear me out" :lol: :lol:

Может, я ошибаюсь, но мне кажется, в английском у тебя тоже ошибки :oops: Поэтому сложно исправлять ошибки в русском - не совсем понятно, что ты имеешь в виду в том или ином предложении.

[quote=Оля]

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Originally Posted by "zomby_pengy":19dqklle

Мать уходит меня

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"Mother will wear me out" :lol: :lol: [/quote:19dqklle]

oops! hahaha. :P

um. i didn't understand whatever else it is you sauid. =(

[quote=Оля]

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Originally Posted by "zomby_pengy":3qgmuw9r

Мать уходит меня

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"Mother will wear me out" :lol: :lol:

Может, я ошибаюсь, но мне кажется, в английском у тебя тоже ошибки :oops: Поэтому сложно исправлять ошибки в русском - не совсем понятно, что ты имеешь в виду в том или ином предложении.[/quote:3qgmuw9r]
Where? I think he's American :)

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um. i didn't understand whatever else it is you sauid. =(

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Here's the translation of what Оля said:
I might be wrong but it seems to me that there are errors in your English sentences as well. Therefore, it's hard to correct your errrors in Russian, as it's not quite clear what you mean.

[quote=ReDSanchous]

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Originally Posted by Оля

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Originally Posted by "zomby_pengy":16fbschd

Мать уходит меня

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"Mother will wear me out" :lol: :lol:

Может, я ошибаюсь, но мне кажется, в английском у тебя тоже ошибки :oops: Поэтому сложно исправлять ошибки в русском - не совсем понятно, что ты имеешь в виду в том или ином предложении.

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Where? I think he's American :)[/quote:16fbschd]
Да, я уже поняла :D
Просто мое знание английского не позволяет мне понять, как это "...ing" + "today". I understand only "...ing" + "right now" :lol:

OK, you shouldn't be doing verbs of motion when you've just started learning Russian. They are one of the most difficult areas of Russian grammar.

You haven't even do aspect yet have you?

You need to firmly understand aspect before doing verbs of motion.

You should start by learning the cases, and some expressions like "Hello" "How are you" "I'm fine". "Give me a bottle of vodka" etc.

ok...well im just all messed up then. Because on one of the links i found it had verb aspect after verbs of motion. Wierd...

and yes I am American. =)

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Originally Posted by ReDSanchous

Мать завезёт меня на работу. "my mother is dropping me off at work today."
Мать завезла меня на работу. "my mother already dropped me off at work."
Мать завозит меня на работу. "my mother drops me off at work every week."

Я лечу на Украину. "I am flying to Ukraine today." - OR Я прилетаю на Украину сегодня.
Я прилетел на Украину. "I arrived in Ukraine already." (your sentence meant that you're flying on a plane and have just approached the Ukraine's border).
Я летаю на Украину. "I fly to Ukraine repeatedly." (the verb прилетаю doesn't convey the idea of the constancy of the fact thay you fly to the Ukraine repeatedly).

Мать уходит от меня. "My mother is leaving my home right now."
Мать ушла от меня. "My mother already left my home."
Мать уходит от меня. "My mother leaves my home every day."
I think that мама would work better in your sentences :wink:

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thanks. At least I was almost close. Haha. Oh well, I must make mistakes before I can learn, I suppose. One seems to remember things easier if they if they've been corrected in that area, seeing as we want to not mess up again, so we tend to remember things we've been corrected in. :D

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Originally Posted by zomby_pengy

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ReDSanchous

Мать завезёт меня на работу. "my mother is dropping me off at work today."
Мать завезла меня на работу. "my mother already dropped me off at work."
Мать завозит меня на работу. "my mother drops me off at work every week."

Я лечу на Украину. "I am flying to Ukraine today." - OR Я прилетаю на Украину сегодня.
Я прилетел на Украину. "I arrived in Ukraine already." (your sentence meant that you're flying on a plane and have just approached the Ukraine's border).
Я летаю на Украину. "I fly to Ukraine repeatedly." (the verb прилетаю doesn't convey the idea of the constancy of the fact thay you fly to the Ukraine repeatedly).

Мать уходит от меня. "My mother is leaving my home right now."
Мать ушла от меня. "My mother already left my home."
Мать уходит от меня. "My mother leaves my home every day."
I think that мама would work better in your sentences :wink:

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thanks. At least I was almost close. Haha. Oh well, I must make mistakes before I can learn, I suppose. One seems to remember things easier if they if they've been corrected in that area, seeing as we want to not mess up again, so we tend to remember things we've been corrected in. :D

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Well no you weren't that close. The whole point of Russian verbs of motion is they convey very specific descriptions of motion and such. So being slightly off means you are way off.

The fact that you've jumped straight into prefixed verbs of motion is even more illogical.

At my university they didn't teach us prefixed VOM until the second year of study.

Maybe before you start of verbs of motion it would have been a good idea to study how to express location and direction.

The fact that you wrote "На Украина" suggests you haven't learnt cases yet.

yeah...well I guess I better wait until I can get to the library. I suppose when you try to learn a language off the internet, its not gonna be the best lessons for a beginner. Oh well, I should be going to the library this weekend, and I'll be sure to get the proper books.

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Originally Posted by zomby_pengy

yeah...well I guess I better wait until I can get to the library. I suppose when you try to learn a language off the internet, its not gonna be the best lessons for a beginner. Oh well, I should be going to the library this weekend, and I'll be sure to get the proper books.

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There are plenty of good resources for beginners. It's more about excercising common sense. When you start learning a new language you don't jump straight into the deep end of 19th century literature and complex things like "my mother is dropping me off at work today". What's the point in knowning how to say that when you can't even say "My name is John, I am 22 and I live in Australia." You don't even understand why "at work" is "на работу" in Russian.

http://www.princeton.edu/russian/SLA101/Chapter%201/

Here's a hint, start with Chapter 1.

wow. thanks SO much for that link. its like exactly what i've been looking for!!! thanks!!!

Я не вижу серьезные ошибки в его английском кроме того, что ему лень правильно использовать правильную пунктуацию.

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Originally Posted by basurero

Я не вижу серьезных ошибок в его английском, кроме того, что ему лень правильно использовать (не надо второй раз "правильную") пунктуацию.

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