Archive for 'Russian for beginners'
Wordbuilding Tetris Posted by yelena on Apr 13, 2011
Every Russian knows that Russian language is «великий и могучий» [great and powerful]. Nowhere is the “mighty” part as evident as in «словообразование» [word-building], the process of creating multiple derivatives of any given word. Take any Russian «слово» [a word] and play with it like a child would play with his building blocks: «нести»…
Using the Instrumental Case, Part 2 Posted by Natalie on Apr 12, 2011
«Дорогие читатели» [Dear readers], as we say in Russian: «Сколько лет, сколько зим!» [Long time, no see (literally it means “How many summers, how many winters”)]. «Простите меня» [Forgive me] for having such a long hiatus between posts–I’m sure you’re just dying to learn more about the instrumental case, right? This post is a continuation…
Russian Verbs – Perfective and Imperfective Aspects – Part 2 Posted by yelena on Mar 30, 2011
What can be better than a grammar posts on such a complicated and confusing subject as Russian verbal aspects! Two posts on Russian verbal aspects, back-to-back! Today Maria is talking about exceptions to the rules. Russian grammar rules wouldn’t be rules if they were to have no exceptions. This is also true for perfective…
Russian Verbs – Perfective and Imperfective Aspects Posted by yelena on Mar 29, 2011
I firmly believe that the Russian blog has the most awesome readers ever! One of the many reasons you are the best is because of all the fantastic comments – thoughtful, well-researched, in-depth, and immensely helpful you leave on this blog. 33 (!) comments on my previous post about short forms of Russian adjectives are…
How to Use Russian Short Form Adjectives Posted by yelena on Mar 22, 2011
All who’re scared of grammar, raise your hands. Ok, maybe raising hands is not the best idea since it prevents me from typing and you – from scrolling through this post. Anyway, «грамматика» [grammar] can be intimidating. This goes for both learners of Russian as a second (or third or fourth) language and native Russian…
A Little Bit of Grammar: Irregular Plural Nouns Posted by Natalie on Mar 16, 2011
«Дорогие читатели» [Dear readers], «нам пора» [it is time] for us to do a little grammar. Some people love grammar, some hate it, but it is a necessity of learning a language. Today we are going to talk about irregular plural nouns. Judging from the comments, we have readers of all levels, so I…
How to Learn Russian at IKEA Store Posted by yelena on Feb 1, 2011
Have you heard of a mnemonics technique called «ассоциативное запоминание» or “vivid associations”? The idea is to link a new piece of information that you’re trying to remember to something you already know in a vivid and positive way. The rules are simple: It has to be a positive link (who wants to be reminded…