Russian language lesson 8

 

Today we are going to talk about Russian sentence structure, word order, and questions

Watch the video:

Russian sentence structure and word order are flexible. It means that you can put words in different places in the sentence and the meaning will stay pretty much the same.

For example, in English, we say: SHE IS A TEACHER. If we try IS TEACHER A SHE or anything else, the meaning will change.

In Russian, we can do this, but… it’s not random! It depends on the context and emotions of the speaker.

For example,
Я БЫЛА НА РАБОТЕ – I was at work (normal sentence)
НА РАБОТЕ Я БЫЛА!!! – I was at work (but when somebody asked you 100 times already :D)
БЫЛА Я КАК-ТО НА РАБОТЕ… – I was at work once… (and then follows some story)

You see? It’s not that random at all!

So please just stay with the basic word order: Subject + Verb + Object

Examples (don’t worry about the endings, we’ll learn them later, now only the word order is important):
Он работает сегодня – He is working today;
Мама читает газету – Mom is reading a newspaper;
Дарья гуляет в парке – Daria is walking in the park.

QUESTIONS IN RUSSIAN

So-called YES/NO questions are formed just with intonation (watch the video – 15:30). You don’t have to change the word order to make a question.

In English: She is a teacher. – Is she a teacher?
In Russian: Она учитель. – Она учитель?

In English: This is a girl. – Is this a girl?
In Russian: Это девушка. – Это девушка?

In English: He is sick. – Is he sick?
In Russian: Он болеет. – Он болеет?

Also, you can use the question words to make questions. Here are some of them:
Кто? – Who?
Что? – What?
Где? – Where?
Когда? – When?
Почему? Зачем? – Why?

Read the examples below.

ЧТО
– Что это? (What is it?)
– Это книга. (It’s a book)
– Она твоя? (Is it yours?)
– Да, это моя книга. (Yes, this is my book).

КТО
– Привет. Ты кто? (Hi! Who are you?)
– Здравствуй. Я Маша. А ты? (Hello, I’m Masha. And you?)
– А я Марина. (And I am Marina).

– Кто здесь доктор? (Who is a doctor here?)
– Я доктор. (I am a doctor).

ГДЕ
– Алло, ты где? (Hello, where are you?)
– Я здесь! (I’m here!)

– Где книга/машина/пицца/стол? (Where is a book/car/pizza/table?)
– Там (Over there).

КОГДА 
– Когда он гуляет?
– Он гуляет сейчас.

ПОЧЕМУ и ЗАЧЕМ
– Почему ты работаешь? Сейчас ночь! (Why are you working? It’s night now!)

– Зачем она здесь? Это библиотека. (What is she here for? It’s a library).
– Она читает. (She is reading)

HOMEWORK:
Use the examples from above and create as many sentences as you can with words from the previous lessons.

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