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We are looking at parts of the Russian language that are easier to grasp that many learners would expect. Make sure you read Part I.

Subjunctive and Conditional Moods

Russian has very simple forms for the subjunctive (сослагательное наклонение) and the conditional mood (условное наклонение). Both of these look like past tense forms + the particle бы. There is no need to worry about whether the action is in the present or in the past and what form to use after the “if” clause versus the “then” clause.

• Если бы мы жили в Бразилии, мы бы говорили по-португальски (If we lived in Brazil, we’d speak Portuguese; depending on the context, it could also be construed as “If we had lived in Brazil, we would have spoken Portuguese” and any other combination of the two).
• Если бы студенты не опоздали на лекцию, они бы поняли материал (If the students hadn’t been late to the lecture, they would have understood the material).
• Если бы я поступила в консерваторию, я была бы певицей (If I had been accepted to the conservatory, I would be a singer).

The question then arises, how do you distinguish between “would be” and “would have been” or “if I did” and “if I had done”? When it is important to specify the time, it is done lexically and not grammatically, with the help of such words as вчера (yesterday), тогда (then), сейчас (now), etc.

Sequence of Tenses

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Some languages require that verbs in dependent clauses agree with the tense/mood of the verb in the main clause of a complex sentence. For instance, in English you may come across sentences like “He asked where I lived,” when the actual utterance probably used the present tense: “Where do you live?”

In Russian, subordinate clauses use the same tense as they would if they were independent.

• Мой коллега сказал, что подготовит доклад завтра (My co-worker said he would prepare the report the following day).
• Я не знала, что вам нет 40 лет (I didn’t realize you were younger than 40).

Questions

Finally, asking a question in Russian is fairly easy. There are no auxiliary (“helping”) verbs or inversion. For yes-or-no questions, the most common way of asking a question is to use your intonation. The pitch rises on the stressed syllable of the predicate.

• Ты был в России? (Have you been to Russia? — in the general case, the intonation will rise for был)

More rarely, the particle ли may be used to ask a question.

• Слышали ли вы о новом театре? (Have you heard about the new theater?)

For questions with question words, the question word is said with a falling intonation. Again, no inversion or auxiliary verbs are used.

• Почему писатель не общается с прессой? (Why doesn’t the writer talk to the press?)
• Кто умеет фехтовать? (Who can fence?)

Hopefully, these examples encourage you to pursue Russian and not be afraid of it — there are plenty of easy things in Russian!