{"id":1422,"date":"2010-09-10T12:00:39","date_gmt":"2010-09-10T12:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/?p=1422"},"modified":"2014-07-17T13:50:01","modified_gmt":"2014-07-17T13:50:01","slug":"hooray-there-are-no-articles-in-russian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/hooray-there-are-no-articles-in-russian\/","title":{"rendered":"Hooray, There are No Articles in Russian!"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

There is a good Russian saying \u00ab\u0447\u0435\u043c \u0434\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u0448\u0435 \u0432 \u043b\u0435\u0441, \u0442\u0435\u043c \u0431\u043e<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u0448\u0435 \u0434\u0440\u043e\u0432\u00bb <\/strong>[lit: the further one gets into the forest, the more firewood there is] that means the further in, the more complicated things get. Russians have lots of modern-day endings to this saying – funny, silly, and yes, some are rude. I’ll add my own one here, inspired by I.I. Shishkin’s famous painting –\u00a0\u00ab\u0447\u0435\u043c \u0434\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u0448\u0435 \u0432 \u043b\u0435\u0441, \u0442\u0435\u043c \u0433\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0434\u043d\u0435<\/span>\u0439 \u043c\u0435\u0434\u0432\u0435<\/span>\u0434\u0438\u00bb <\/strong>[the further into the forest, the hungrier the bears].<\/em><\/p>\n

My name is Yelena and I have a problem with the English language. Apart from my very embarrassing inability to correctly pronounce such words as \u201csheet\u201d, \u201cbeach\u201d and \u201cship\u201d and occasional confusion of \u201cjock\u201d with \u201cjoke\u201d in e-mails, the one grammar issue that gets me the most is articles. All those pesky \u201ca\u201d and \u201cthe\u201d just \u00ab<\/strong>\u0441\u0432\u043e<\/span>\u0434\u044f\u0442 <\/strong>\u043c\u0435\u043d\u044f<\/span> <\/strong>\u0441 <\/strong>\u0443\u043c\u0430<\/span>\u00bb<\/strong> [are drive me crazy]. Even after years of living in the US I get them only about half the time.<\/p>\n

The way I see it, learners of Russian can legitimately complain about the overabundance of letters in the alphabet, confusing word stress or the problematic accusative case, but not about articles. For it is a huge advantage of Russian language over English is that there are no \u00ab<\/strong>\u0430\u0440\u0442\u0438<\/span>\u043a\u043b\u0438\u00bb<\/strong> [articles] in Russian.<\/p>\n

But how do Russians manage without these \u00ab<\/strong>\u043e\u043f\u0440\u0435\u0434\u0435\u043b\u0438<\/span>\u0442\u0435\u043b\u0438 <\/strong>\u0441\u0443\u0449\u0435\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0438<\/span>\u0442\u0435\u043b\u044c\u043d\u044b\u0445\u00bb<\/strong> [nouns\u2019 determiners]? Well, they don\u2019t sweat about them and either omit determiners altogether or \u00ab<\/strong>\u0437\u0430\u043c\u0435\u043d\u0438<\/span>\u0442\u044c\u00bb<\/strong> [substitute] them.<\/p>\n

The three words that can be used in place of the indeterminate article \u201ca\/an\u201d are \u00ab<\/strong>\u043d\u0435<\/span>\u043a\u0438\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> [some kind of], \u00ab<\/strong>\u043a\u0430\u043a\u043e<\/span>\u0439-<\/strong>\u0442\u043e\u00bb<\/strong> [some kind of], and \u00ab<\/strong>\u043e\u0434\u0438<\/span>\u043d\u00bb<\/strong> [one].<\/p>\n

\u00ab\u041a\u043e\u0433\u0434\u0430<\/span> \u043d\u0430 \u0440\u0430\u0431\u043e<\/span>\u0442\u0435 \u0431\u044b<\/span>\u043b\u043e \u043d\u0435<\/span>\u0447\u0435\u0433\u043e \u0434\u0435<\/span>\u043b\u0430\u0442\u044c, \u0414\u0436\u043e\u043d \u0447\u0438\u0442\u0430<\/span>\u043b \u043a\u0430\u043a\u0443<\/span>\u044e-\u043d\u0438\u0431\u0443<\/span>\u0434\u044c \u043a\u043d\u0438<\/span>\u0433\u0443\u00bb<\/strong> [When there was nothing to do at work, John would read a book].<\/p>\n

\u00ab<\/strong>\u041e\u0434\u0438<\/span>\u043d <\/strong>\u0441\u043e\u0442\u0440\u0443<\/span>\u0434\u043d\u0438\u043a <\/strong>\u043f\u043e\u0438\u043d\u0442\u0435\u0440\u0435\u0441\u043e\u0432\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u0441\u044f, <\/strong>\u0447\u0442\u043e <\/strong>\u0436\u0435 <\/strong>\u0414\u0436\u043e\u043d <\/strong>\u0447\u0438<\/span>\u0442\u0430\u0435\u0442\u00bb<\/strong> [A co-worker was curious what John was reading].<\/p>\n

\u00ab<\/strong>\u0427\u0435<\/span>\u0440\u0435\u0437 <\/strong>\u043d\u0435<\/span>\u0441\u043a\u043e\u043b\u044c\u043a\u043e <\/strong>\u0434\u043d\u0435\u0439 <\/strong>\u0431\u044b\u043b <\/strong>\u0432\u044b<\/span>\u043f\u0443\u0449\u0435\u043d <\/strong>\u043d\u0435<\/span>\u043a\u0438\u0439 <\/strong>\u043c\u0435\u043c\u043e\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u043d\u0434\u0443\u043c, <\/strong>\u0437\u0430\u043f\u0440\u0435\u0442\u0438<\/span>\u0432\u0448\u0438\u0439 <\/strong>\u0447\u0438\u0442\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u044c <\/strong>\u043a\u043d\u0438<\/span>\u0433\u0438 <\/strong>\u043d\u0430 <\/strong>\u0440\u0430\u0431\u043e<\/span>\u0442\u0435\u00bb<\/strong> [A few days later, a memo came out forbidding reading at work]<\/p>\n

\u00ab\u0414\u0436\u043e\u043d \u043f\u0435\u0440\u0435\u0448\u0451<\/span>\u043b \u043d\u0430 \u0447\u0442\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u0438\u0435 \u043a\u0430\u043a\u043e<\/span>\u0433\u043e-\u0442\u043e \u0431\u043b\u043e<\/span>\u0433\u0430\u00bb<\/strong> [John switched to reading a blog]<\/p>\n

For determinate articles, substituting words include \u00ab<\/strong>\u0442\u043e\u0442\u00bb<\/strong> and \u00ab<\/strong>\u044d\u0442\u043e\u0442\u00bb<\/strong> [this]. To continue John\u2019s story,<\/p>\n

\u00ab<\/strong>\u042d<\/span><\/strong>\u0442\u043e\u0442 <\/strong>\u0431\u043b\u043e\u0433 <\/strong>\u043e\u043a\u0430\u0437\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u0441\u044f <\/strong>\u0442\u0430\u043a\u0438<\/span>\u043c <\/strong>\u0438\u043d\u0442\u0435\u0440\u0435<\/span>\u0441\u043d\u044b\u043c, <\/strong>\u0447\u0442\u043e <\/strong>\u0414\u0436\u043e\u043d <\/strong>\u043f\u0440\u043e\u0432\u043e\u0434\u0438<\/span>\u043b <\/strong>\u043d\u0430 <\/strong>\u043d\u0451\u043c <\/strong>\u0432\u0441\u0451 <\/strong>\u0431\u043e<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u0448\u0435 <\/strong>\u0438 <\/strong>\u0431\u043e<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u0448\u0435 <\/strong>\u0432\u0440\u0435<\/span>\u043c\u0435\u043d\u0438\u00bb<\/strong> [The blog was so interesting that John started spending more and more time on it]<\/p>\n

\u00ab<\/strong>\u0422\u043e\u0442 <\/strong>\u0436\u0435 <\/strong>\u0441\u043e\u0442\u0440\u0443<\/span>\u0434\u043d\u0438\u043a <\/strong>\u0441\u043d\u043e<\/span>\u0432\u0430 <\/strong>\u043f\u043e\u0438\u043d\u0442\u0435\u0440\u0435\u0441\u043e\u0432\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u0441\u044f, <\/strong>\u0447\u0435\u043c <\/strong>\u0414\u0436\u043e\u043d <\/strong>\u0442\u0435\u043f\u0435<\/span>\u0440\u044c <\/strong>\u0437\u0430<\/span>\u043d\u044f\u0442\u00bb<\/strong> [The co-worker once again got interested in John\u2019s activities]<\/p>\n

\u00ab<\/strong>\u0422\u0430\u043a <\/strong>\u043a\u0430\u043a <\/strong>\u0431\u043b\u043e\u0433 <\/strong>\u0431\u044b\u043b <\/strong>\u0431\u043e<\/span>\u043b\u0435\u0435 <\/strong>\u0438\u043d\u0442\u0435\u0440\u0435<\/span>\u0441\u043d\u044b\u0439, <\/strong>\u0447\u0435\u043c <\/strong>\u043a\u043d\u0438<\/span>\u0433\u0430, <\/strong>\u0441\u043e\u0442\u0440\u0443<\/span>\u0434\u043d\u0438\u043a <\/strong>\u0414\u0436\u043e<\/span>\u043d\u0430 <\/strong>\u0442\u043e<\/span>\u0436\u0435 <\/strong>\u0441\u0442\u0430\u043b <\/strong>\u0435\u0433\u043e<\/span> <\/strong>\u0432\u0442\u0438\u0445\u0430\u0440\u044f<\/span> <\/strong>\u043f\u043e\u0447\u0438<\/span>\u0442\u044b\u0432\u0430\u0442\u044c\u00bb<\/strong> [Since the blog was more interesting than the book, John\u2019s co-worker also got into reading it on the sly]<\/p>\n

Note how in the last sentence the articles in front of \u201cblog\u201d and \u201cbook\u201d were simply dropped. Back to John and his friend,<\/p>\n

\u00ab<\/strong>\u0423 <\/strong>\u043d\u0438\u0445 <\/strong>\u043d\u0435 <\/strong>\u043e\u0441\u0442\u0430\u0432\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u043e\u0441\u044c <\/strong>\u0432\u0440\u0435<\/span>\u043c\u0435\u043d\u0438 <\/strong>\u043d\u0430 <\/strong>\u0440\u0430\u0431\u043e<\/span>\u0442\u0443\u00bb<\/strong> [They did not have any time left for work]<\/p>\n

Here again \u201cany\u201d was dropped altogether.<\/p>\n

So the rule is really simple:<\/p>\n

If it\u2019s \u201ca noun\u201d, use \u00ab<\/strong>\u043a\u0430\u043a\u043e<\/span>\u0439-<\/strong>\u0442\u043e\u00bb, \u00ab<\/strong>\u043d\u0435<\/span>\u043a\u0438\u0439\u00bb, \u00ab<\/strong>\u043e\u0434\u0438<\/span>\u043d\u00bb<\/strong> for masculine nouns; \u00ab<\/strong>\u043a\u0430\u043a\u0430<\/span>\u044f-<\/strong>\u0442\u043e\u00bb, \u00ab<\/strong>\u043d\u0435<\/span>\u043a\u0430\u044f\u00bb, \u00ab<\/strong>\u043e\u0434\u043d\u0430<\/span>\u00bb<\/strong> – for feminine nouns; and \u00ab<\/strong>\u043a\u0430\u043a\u043e<\/span>\u0435-<\/strong>\u0442\u043e\u00bb, \u00ab<\/strong>\u043d\u0435<\/span>\u043a\u043e\u0435\u00bb, \u00ab<\/strong>\u043e\u0434\u043d\u043e<\/span>\u00bb<\/strong> – for neuter nouns. Or skip substitutions altogether.<\/p>\n

If it\u2019s \u201cthe noun\u201d, use \u00ab<\/strong>\u0442\u043e\u0442\u00bb, \u00ab<\/strong>\u044d<\/span><\/strong>\u0442\u043e\u0442\u00bb<\/strong> and any variations such as \u00ab<\/strong>\u044d<\/span><\/strong>\u0442\u043e\u0442 <\/strong>\u0441\u0430<\/span>\u043c\u044b\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> for masculine nouns; \u00ab<\/strong>\u0442\u0430\u00bb, \u00ab<\/strong>\u044d<\/span><\/strong>\u0442\u0430\u00bb, \u00ab<\/strong>\u044d<\/span><\/strong>\u0442\u0430 <\/strong>\u0441\u0430<\/span>\u043c\u0430\u044f\u00bb-<\/strong> for feminine nouns; and \u00ab<\/strong>\u0442\u043e\u00bb, \u00ab<\/strong>\u044d<\/span><\/strong>\u0442\u043e\u00bb, \u00ab<\/strong>\u044d<\/span><\/strong>\u0442\u043e <\/strong>\u0441\u0430<\/span>\u043c\u043e\u0435\u00bb<\/strong> for neuter nouns. Or, once again, skip substitutions altogether.<\/p>\n

But by now you know that in Russian language \u00ab<\/strong>\u043d\u0435\u0442 <\/strong>\u043f\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0432\u0438\u043b <\/strong>\u0431\u0435\u0437 <\/strong>\u0438\u0441\u043a\u043b\u044e\u0447\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u0438\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> [there are no rules without exceptions]. Same is with this rule. And so the story continues:<\/p>\n

Obviously, the blog that John read was a very interesting one. The more time he spent reading it, the less time he had left for work and the higher were his chances of getting fired.<\/p>\n

When you see grammatical structures such as \u201cthe more the better\u201d, \u201cthe sooner the better\u201d, \u201cthe less, the higher\u201d, etc, those articles actually get translated, but in a special way by using \u00ab<\/strong>\u0447\u0435\u043c… <\/strong>\u0442\u0435\u043c…\u00bb<\/strong> construct:<\/p>\n

\u00ab<\/strong>\u0447\u0435\u043c <\/strong>\u0431\u043e<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u0448\u0435 <\/strong>\u0434\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u0435\u0433, <\/strong>\u0442\u0435\u043c <\/strong>\u043b\u0443<\/span>\u0447\u0448\u0435 <\/strong>\u0436\u0438\u0432\u0451<\/span>\u0442\u0441\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> [the more money one has, the better one lives]<\/p>\n

\u00ab<\/strong>\u0447\u0435\u043c <\/strong>\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u043d\u044c\u0448\u0435 <\/strong>\u043f\u0440\u0438\u0434\u0451<\/span>\u0442\u0435, <\/strong>\u0442\u0435\u043c <\/strong>\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u043d\u044c\u0448\u0435 <\/strong>\u0443\u0439\u0434\u0451<\/span>\u0442\u0435\u00bb<\/strong> [the sooner you show up, the sooner you get to leave]<\/p>\n

\u00ab\u0447\u0435\u043c \u0432\u044b<\/span>\u0448\u0435 \u0437\u0430\u043b\u0435<\/span>\u0437, \u0442\u0435\u043c \u0434\u043e<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u0448\u0435 \u043f\u0430<\/span>\u0434\u0430\u0442\u044c\u00bb<\/strong>\u00a0[the higher the climb the longer the fall]<\/p>\n

\u00ab<\/strong>\u0447\u0435\u043c <\/strong>\u0434\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u0448\u0435 <\/strong>\u0432 <\/strong>\u043b\u0435\u0441, <\/strong>\u0442\u0435\u043c <\/strong>\u0431\u043e<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u0448\u0435 <\/strong>\u0434\u0440\u043e\u0432\u00bb<\/strong> [the further in, the more complicated things get]<\/p>\n

\u00ab<\/strong>\u0447\u0435\u043c <\/strong>\u0431\u043b\u0438<\/span>\u0436\u0435 <\/strong>\u0431\u0435\u0434\u0430<\/span>, <\/strong>\u0442\u0435\u043c <\/strong>\u0431\u043e<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u0448\u0435 <\/strong>\u0443\u043c\u0430<\/span>\u00bb<\/strong> [the closer the misfortune, the smarter one gets]<\/p>\n

Can you think of\u00a0any sayings that use \u00ab<\/strong>\u0447\u0435\u043c… <\/strong>\u0442\u0435\u043c…\u00bb<\/strong>?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

There is a good Russian saying \u00ab\u0447\u0435\u043c \u0434\u0430\u043b\u044c\u0448\u0435 \u0432 \u043b\u0435\u0441, \u0442\u0435\u043c \u0431\u043e\u043b\u044c\u0448\u0435 \u0434\u0440\u043e\u0432\u00bb [lit: the further one gets into the forest, the more firewood there is] that means the further in, the more complicated things get. Russians have lots of modern-day endings to this saying – funny, silly, and yes, some are rude. I’ll…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":1423,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[8,7828],"tags":[1237,1248],"class_list":["post-1422","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-language","category-russian-for-beginners","tag-russian-grammar","tag-russian-language"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1422"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1422\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6205,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1422\/revisions\/6205"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}