New Penguin Russian Grammar Chapters 1-5

How does the Russian 'o' sound when stressed vs unstressed?

'о' is pronounced as 'a' is it is unstressed in the word

ex:

тóт [toh] - 'that'

ктó-то [ktoh-ta] - 'someone'

What is the effect of the hard sign ъ?

It makes the letter before it hard instead of soft ands acts like a slight break in the middle of the word/creates two syllables

ex: Подъезд

What is the effect of the soft sign ь?

Softens the sound of the consonant before

Does Russian have a present conjugation of to be and what is it?

есть - to be, and it is NOT conjugated into the present tense

If the sentence has nouns in the subject and predicate, a hyphen is used

ex: Мзри—англичанка

Voiced vs Voiceless/Devoiced Consonants

• When a voiced consonant comes before a voiceless consonant or being located at the end, it becomes its voiceless counterpart.

  • Водка sounds like вотка (д in front of к = т)

  • Заказ sounds like Закас (з at the end = с)

  • В пути sounds like ф пути (voiced в before voiceless п takes on the sound of voiceless ф)

• Likewise, a voiceless consonant becomes its voiced counterpart when precedes a voiced one (except for voiced в) - a voiceless consonant stays voiceless at the end of a word.
  • сделать sounds like зделать (с in front of д = з)

ЙЭ sound

Е (yeh)

ЙО sound

Ё

ЙУ sound

Ю

Hard vs Soft vowels

the hard consonants before a soft vs hard vowel changes 
Ex: Дом and День pronounce the Д differently

How to (usually) identify if a noun is masc., fem., or neutral

Masc. nouns: end in consonants or й
Fem. nouns: end in -а/-я
Neuter nouns: end in е/ё/о

Это uses

means “this” and “that” and also “it” when replacing “this/that”

ex:
A: Что это? - What is this/that/it?
B: Это вино - It/This/That is wine

Gender of nouns ending in ь

Most are feminine, but there are many masculine ones too

Это vs Вот

When you are talking about something that has already been named, Вот is used
Ex: Где чай? Вот он.

What is the infinitive ending?

-ть

Present Tense Type 1 Verb Conjugation: знать

Majority of verbs have this type of conjugation

Present Tense Type 1B Verb Conjugation:

Similar endings to Type 1 знать, but the stem is unpredictable

Present tense Type 2 Verb Conjugation: говорить

How to make verbs negative in Russian

Simply put ‘не’ before the verb
Ex: Я не знаю (I don’t know)

Prepositional Case use(s)

words that come after prepositions в (in), на (on), о (about, concerning) need the prep. case endings 

Prepositional case endings for Masculine nouns

add an -e, while the й changes to an -e 

ex: автобус → на автобусе (on a/the bus)
музей → в музее (in a/the museum)

Prepositional case endings for Feminine nouns

Change their -а/-я ending to -e
ex: Москва → в Москве (in Moscow)

Prepositional case endings for ь nouns

if Feminine, the -ь turns into и, if Masc., it turns into -е

ex)

царь (m) - о царе
Сибирь (f) - в Сибири

Exception to case ending rule for -я/-e endings that have an и before them

The final -я/-e actually turns into another и
ex) Англия → в Англии (in England)