{"id":9548,"date":"2016-11-07T07:29:11","date_gmt":"2016-11-07T07:29:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/?p=9548"},"modified":"2016-11-01T16:52:53","modified_gmt":"2016-11-01T16:52:53","slug":"five-easy-parts-of-learning-russian-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/five-easy-parts-of-learning-russian-part-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Easy Parts of Learning Russian \u2014 Part II"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_9560\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone post-item__attachment\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9560\" class=\"wp-image-9560 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2016\/11\/play-1738102_640.jpg\" alt=\"tic-tac-toe\" width=\"640\" height=\"345\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2016\/11\/play-1738102_640.jpg 640w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2016\/11\/play-1738102_640-350x189.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-9560\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Image from Pixabay<\/p><\/div>\n<p>We are looking at parts of the Russian language that are easier to grasp that many learners would expect. Make sure you read <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/?p=9548\">Part I<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Subjunctive and Conditional Moods<\/h2>\n<p>Russian has very simple forms for the subjunctive (<strong>\u0441\u043e\u0441\u043b\u0430\u0433<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u0435\u043b\u044c\u043d\u043e\u0435 \u043d\u0430\u043a\u043b\u043e\u043d<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u0438\u0435<\/strong>) and the conditional mood (<strong>\u0443\u0441\u043b<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u043e<\/span>\u0432\u043d\u043e\u0435 \u043d\u0430\u043a\u043b\u043e\u043d<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u0438\u0435<\/strong>). Both of these look like past tense forms + the particle <strong>\u0431\u044b<\/strong>. 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 &#8220;if&#8221; clause versus the &#8220;then&#8221; clause.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0415<\/span>\u0441\u043b\u0438 \u0431\u044b \u043c\u044b \u0436<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0438<\/span>\u043b\u0438 \u0432 \u0411\u0440\u0430\u0437<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0438<\/span>\u043b\u0438\u0438, \u043c\u044b \u0431\u044b \u0433\u043e\u0432\u043e\u0440<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0438<\/span>\u043b\u0438 \u043f\u043e-\u043f\u043e\u0440\u0442\u0443\u0433<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u0441\u043a\u0438 (If we lived in Brazil, we&#8217;d speak Portuguese; depending on the context, it could also be construed as &#8220;If we had lived in Brazil, we would have spoken Portuguese&#8221; and any other combination of the two).<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0415<\/span>\u0441\u043b\u0438 \u0431\u044b \u0441\u0442\u0443\u0434<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u0442\u044b \u043d\u0435 \u043e\u043f\u043e\u0437\u0434<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u0438 \u043d\u0430 \u043b<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0435<\/span>\u043a\u0446\u0438\u044e, \u043e\u043d\u0438 \u0431\u044b \u043f<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u043e<\/span>\u043d\u044f\u043b\u0438 \u043c\u0430\u0442\u0435\u0440\u0438<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0430<\/span>\u043b (If the students hadn&#8217;t been late to the lecture, they would have understood the material).<\/li>\n<li>\u0415\u0441\u043b\u0438 \u0431\u044b \u044f \u043f\u043e\u0441\u0442\u0443\u043f<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0438<\/span>\u043b\u0430 \u0432 \u043a\u043e\u043d\u0441\u0435\u0440\u0432\u0430\u0442<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u043e<\/span>\u0440\u0438\u044e, \u044f \u0431\u044b\u043b<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0430<\/span> \u0431\u044b \u043f\u0435\u0432<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0438<\/span>\u0446\u0435\u0439 (If I had been accepted to the conservatory, I would be a singer).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The question then arises, how do you distinguish between &#8220;would be&#8221; and &#8220;would have been&#8221; or &#8220;if I did&#8221; and &#8220;if I had done&#8221;? When it is important to specify the time, it is done lexically and not grammatically, with the help of such words as <strong>\u0432\u0447\u0435\u0440<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0430<\/span> <\/strong>(yesterday), <strong>\u0442\u043e\u0433\u0434<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0430<\/span> <\/strong>(then), <strong>\u0441\u0435\u0439\u0447<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0430<\/span>\u0441<\/strong> (now), etc.<\/p>\n<h2>Sequence of Tenses<\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_9558\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone post-item__attachment\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9558\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9558\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2016\/11\/labyrinth-1738035_640.jpg\" alt=\"maze game\" width=\"640\" height=\"431\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2016\/11\/labyrinth-1738035_640.jpg 640w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2016\/11\/labyrinth-1738035_640-350x236.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-9558\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Image from Pixabay<\/p><\/div>\n<p>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 &#8220;He asked where I lived,&#8221; when the actual utterance probably used the present tense: &#8220;Where do you live?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In Russian, subordinate clauses use the same tense as they would if they were independent.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u041c\u043e\u0439 \u043a\u043e\u043b\u043b<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0435<\/span>\u0433\u0430 \u0441\u043a\u0430\u0437<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0430<\/span>\u043b, \u0447\u0442\u043e \u043f\u043e\u0434\u0433\u043e\u0442<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u043e<\/span>\u0432\u0438\u0442 \u0434\u043e\u043a\u043b<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0430<\/span>\u0434 \u0437<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0430<\/span>\u0432\u0442\u0440\u0430 (My co-worker said he would prepare the report the following day).<\/li>\n<li>\u042f \u043d\u0435 \u0437\u043d<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u0430, \u0447\u0442\u043e \u0432\u0430\u043c \u043d\u0435\u0442 40 \u043b\u0435\u0442 (I didn&#8217;t realize you were younger than 40).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Questions<\/h2>\n<p>Finally, asking a question in Russian is fairly easy. There are no auxiliary (&#8220;helping&#8221;) 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.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u0422\u044b \u0431\u044b\u043b \u0432 \u0420\u043e\u0441\u0441<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0438<\/span>\u0438? (Have you been to Russia? \u2014 in the general case, the intonation will rise for \u0431\u044b\u043b)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>More rarely, the particle <strong>\u043b\u0438<\/strong> may be used to ask a question.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u0421\u043b<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u044b<\/span>\u0448\u0430\u043b\u0438 \u043b\u0438 \u0432\u044b \u043e \u043d<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u043e<\/span>\u0432\u043e\u043c \u0442\u0435<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u0440\u0435? (Have you heard about the new theater?)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For questions with question words, the question word is said with a falling intonation. Again, no inversion or auxiliary verbs are used.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u041f\u043e\u0447\u0435\u043c<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0443<\/span> \u043f\u0438\u0441<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u0435\u043b\u044c \u043d\u0435 \u043e\u0431\u0449<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0430<\/span>\u0435\u0442\u0441\u044f \u0441 \u043f\u0440<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0435<\/span>\u0441\u0441\u043e\u0439? (Why doesn&#8217;t the writer talk to the press?)<\/li>\n<li>\u041a\u0442\u043e \u0443\u043c<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0435<\/span>\u0435\u0442 \u0444\u0435\u0445\u0442\u043e\u0432<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u044c? (Who can fence?)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Hopefully, these examples encourage you to pursue Russian and not be afraid of it \u2014 there are plenty of easy things in Russian!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<img width=\"350\" height=\"189\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2016\/11\/play-1738102_640-350x189.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"tic-tac-toe\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2016\/11\/play-1738102_640-350x189.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2016\/11\/play-1738102_640.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><p>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 (\u0441\u043e\u0441\u043b\u0430\u0433\u0430\u0442\u0435\u043b\u044c\u043d\u043e\u0435 \u043d\u0430\u043a\u043b\u043e\u043d\u0435\u043d\u0438\u0435) and the conditional mood (\u0443\u0441\u043b\u043e\u0432\u043d\u043e\u0435 \u043d\u0430\u043a\u043b\u043e\u043d\u0435\u043d\u0438\u0435). Both of these look like past tense forms + the&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/five-easy-parts-of-learning-russian-part-ii\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":9560,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[60785,3546,410881,9867,1383],"class_list":["post-9548","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-language","tag-asking-questions-in-russian","tag-conditionals","tag-easy-grammar","tag-it-is-really-easy-to-learn-russian","tag-verb-tenses-in-russian"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9548","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\/113"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9548"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9548\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9561,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9548\/revisions\/9561"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}