Is Russian grammar confusing? You bet! Just check out this photo I snapped at a Russian store in New Jersey. 

Do you ever get frustrated with Russian grammar rules? Are you tired of declension tables, unpredictable word stress and having to memorize endless exceptions from the rules?

Well, I am not about to offer a magic bullet for your troubles (although this is a post about grammar). However, I do have a great phrase to teach you. When things are confusing and difficult to understand, Russians say «без пол-литра не разберёшься» [lit. can’t figure it out without a half-liter (of vodka)] as in

«Грамматика – дело сложное. Тут без пол-литра не разберёшся» [Grammar is a complicated thing. It’s hard to figure it out.]

Even though I am a native speaker of Russian who paid reasonably good attention in school, I find many grammar rules confusing to say the least. Plus «школа была давно» [school was a long time ago]. Somehow remembering that «жи/ши пиши с буквой и» [write «жи» and «ши» with a letter «и» (even though you tend to hear «ы»)] just isn’t enough to pass for «образованный человек» [an educated person].

For example, I’ve been stumbling over when to use «него», «неё», «них» and when to use «его», «её», «их».

But let’s back up for a minute to review a few Russian «личные местоимения» [personal pronouns], particularly «он» [he], «она» [she], «оно» [it], and «они» [they].

In Russian, pronouns have attributes of

«лицо» [person] – the ones above are all «местоимения третьего лица» [third person pronouns]

«род» [gender] – «мужской» [masculine], «женский» [feminine] and «средний» [neuter]

«число» [number] – «единственное» [singular] and «множественное» [plural]

«падеж» [case] – yes, the pronouns will have different case endings, just like Russian nouns

Here’s a declension table for third person pronouns:

 

Case	Singular			Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	он	она	оно	они
Genitive	его	её	его	их
Genitive (w. prep)	него	неё	него	них
Dative	ему	ей	ему	им
Dative (w. prep)	нему	ней	нему	ним
Accusative	его	её	его	их
Accusative (w. prep)	него	неё	него	них
Instrumental	им	ей, ею	им	ими
Instrumental (w. prep)	ним	ней, нею	ним	ними
Prepositional	нём	ней	нём	них

As you can see, this table is just a little bit longer than usual thanks to Genitive (w. prep), Dative (w. prep), Accusative (w. prep) and Instrumental (w. prep) cases.

The “w. prep” means “with preposition”. So now it all seems clear enough – if you use these pronouns with prepositions, you will use a longer form, the one that adds «н» at the beginning of each pronoun. Simple, isn’t it? Why would I ever get confused in the first place?

Ok, as you probably guess, this rule is somewhat incomplete in its explanation of when to append «н» to third person pronouns and when leave them as is…

So here it goes:

While use of «н» at the beginning of these forms of third person pronouns is mandatory with most prepositions, it is downright incorrect with some. But here’s the best part – there are quite a few prepositions with which it can go either way.

Oh, boy… Looks like we need another table, but since Russian language is rich in prepositions and your patience and time are limited, I’m going to skip it (here it is on Gramota.ru)

Here’s what I suggest instead – memorize the following twelve prepositions:

• благодаря [due to]
• включая [including]
• вне [outside]
• вопреки [against]
• вслед [following]
• навстречу [toward]
• наперекор [against]
• наподобие [like]
• подобно [like]
• посредине [in the middle of]
• посредством [by way of]
• согласно [in accordance with]

When you encounter these, you should not use «н» with the third person pronouns. Compare (I capitalized the preposition + pronoun combinations for added emphasis):

«В наше время высшее образование необходимо. Только БЛАГОДАРЯ ЕМУ  вы сможете найти высокооплачиваемую работу» [These days higher education is a necessity. Only with it will you be able to find a high-paying job.]

«В наше время предприимчивым людям нет необходимости в университетском дипломе. Они могут стать миллионерами ВОПРЕКИ отсутствию ЕГО.» [These days entrepreneurial individuals have no need in university diplomas. They can become millionaires in spite of not having such.]

Now, if you just use «н» in all other cases, you’ll be set.

«Кредитные карточки необходимы. БЕЗ НИХ становится трудно не только покупать дорогие вещи, но и путешествовать» [Credit cards are a necessity. Without them it’s becoming difficult to buy expensive things as well as to travel.]

«Способов избежания долгов много. В ЧИСЛЕ НИХ  – перестать пользоваться кредитными карточками» [There are many ways to avoid debt, including avoiding use of credit cards.]

So, memorize the twelve prepositions and you’ll be speaking «грамотно» [properly]. In fact, not only will you be speaking just as properly as native speakers of Russian, but, in some cases, «даже лучше них» [even better than them].

Which brings me to the last part of this «н» rule:

Whether you use «н» or not in third person pronouns following comparative adjectives is totally up to you (thus saying «даже лучше их» is just as grammatically correct).

Warning – there’s going to be more grammar posts this week. But if there’s any particular grammar topic you’re interested in, let me know.