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Artemiy Belyaev

Russian Language
in 25 lessons

2016
УДК 8
ББК 80

Belyaev Artemiy
Russian Language : in 25 lessons. — [б. м.] : [б. и.], 2016. — 88 с. —
[б. н.]

The course of Russian language in 25 lessons is sustainable for everybody who want
to learn Russian language, who already tried but got disappointed, for those who
want to travel to Russian speaking countries and for any amateur polyglots who is
interested in foreign languages. The course is divided into 2 levels for 15 and
10 lessons that teach you structure of the language, after understanding that you will
be able to improve your skills forever.

УДК 8
ББК 80

0+ В соответствии с ФЗ от 29.12.2010 №436-ФЗ

© Artemiy Belyaev, 2016

A comment from the author

Dear Reader, language Learner, Polyglot or a person who is

interested in Russian language and culture. The Russian language,
as all Slavic languages, is known as difficult language to learn.
But however, it can be fun instead of boring memorizing of the
grammar and vocabulary. I tried to explain all subjects as simple as
possible in 25 lessons. The lessons consist of essential subjects —
the structure of the language. Having learnt the structure, you
will be able to improve your language skills forever and become
a confident speaker.
Conjugate at least 100 verbs and 200 nouns by cases in order
to do it automatically. Use associative method of word memorizing,
try to pronounce all words and examples aloud, and get practice
with native speakers as much as you can. In the end of the book
you will find additional material with numbers, phrasebook and
irregular verbs. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes, and don’t
hesitate to talk to native speakers! learn each lesson carefully and
you will succeed! Good luck with this interesting process!

3
Alphabet and rules
of reading
Russian alphabet:

The alphabet with transcriptions:

4
 Simple rules of reading

Pronounce endings [-..го] like [-vo]. For example, the words

КРАСИВОГО is pronounced like [krasivovo].
Pronounce stressed O as it is, and pronounce not stressed O like
A. For example, the word МОЛОКО is pronounced like [malako]
because stressed syllable is [ко].
Pronounce endings [-..шь], [-..шься], [-чь] like there is not Ь
there, for example ДЕЛАЕШЬ — [delaesh]
The word Ч (ch) in the word ЧТО is pronounced as Ш (sh). ЧТО
[shto].
There are not exact rules of stressed syllables. But usually (not
always!) stressed syllable in the middle of a word. So it is better
to listen to radio or live speech in order to hear correct
pronunciation. Also, there are many words that can be pronounced
in both two or more ways.
The letter Е, Ё, И, Ю, Я soften consonants before them. For
example, the word УНИВЕРСИТЕТ one pronounces as
[UNIV’ERS’IT’ET].
Soft sign Ь just soften a consonant and makes a diphthong. For
example КОМПЬЮТЕР — [KOMP’YUT’ER]. The difference between
the syllables ПЬЮ and ПЮ is that the first is with diphthong [P’YU]
and the second is without — [P’U].
The hard sign Ъ leaves a previous consonant hard (doesnt let
to make it soft). For example, ПОДЪЕЗД — [POD-EZD].

5
 LESSON 1: VERBS
IN PRESENT TENSE
There are 2 conjugations of verbs in Russian language. Verbs
of 1st conjugation have infinitive endings: -ЕТЬ -АТЬ -УТЬ -ЮТЬ
-ЫТЬ -ЯТЬ -ЧЬ and 2 exceptions. Verbs of 2nd conjugation have
infinitive endings: -ИТЬ and 11 exceptions*, but it is not necessary
to learn exceptions once you have started to learn Russian. Now you
know how to distinguish a verb from another parts of speech. Let’s
start to speak!
ГОВОРИТЬ — to speak, to talk, to say

Can you understand the logic of conjugation already? Let’s try

to conjugate another verb!
УЧИТЬ — to learn

Now let’s try to conjugate a verb of 1st conjugation (if you forgot
what it is — look the beginning of this page!) and with negation:

9
 ЗНАТЬ — to know

And one more verb but in interrogative form:

ЧИТАТЬ — to read

And there is one special conjugation group of verbs with the

endings -ОВАТЬ and -АВАТЬ. You just have to delete the suffix ОВ
and conjugate it like it has ending -УТЬ.
ПУТЕШЕСТВОВАТЬ — to travel

It is the same for all verbs with the ending -ОВАТЬ, but notice
that only for -ОВАТЬ! NOT -ИВАТЬ, -ЫВАТЬ!
EXAMPLES
Я УЧУ РУССКИЙ — I learn Russian, РУССКИЙ — Russian

10
 Я ГОВОРЮ ПО-РУССКИ I speak Russian (when you say you
speak any language you just have to remember to say it with the
prefix «ПО-»)
Я ГОВОРЮ ПО-АНГЛИЙСКИ I speak English
Я ГОВОРЮ ПО-АНГЛИЙСКИ И УЧУ РУССКИЙ I speak English
and (I) learn Russian (Sometimes one can use verbs without
pronouns)

*Exceptions of 2nd conjugation:

7verbs with [-ЕТЬ]: видеть, ненавидеть, смотреть, зависеть,
терпеть, вертеть, обидеть.
4 verbs with [-АТЬ]: держать, слышать, дышать, гнать.
These verbs are conjugated by rule of 2nd conjugation despite
they end at [-ЕТЬ] and [-АТЬ]!

*Exceptions of 1st conjugation:

2 verbs with [-ИТЬ]: брить, стелить. These two verbs are
conjugated by rule of 1st conjugation.

11
 LESSON 2: «TO BE»
IN PRESENT TENSE,
PREPOSITIONS
The verb «To be» — БЫТЬ is not used in present tense. For
example in English we say «I am a student» but in Russian we have
to say «I student». The verb БЫТЬ exists for present tense but is not
used, it has the form ЕСТЬ for all pronouns (Я ЕСТЬ, ТЫ ЕСТЬ and
so on).
And one more thing — there are no articles (a, the) in Russian
language.

In order to build interrogative form — just change intonation

and add the question mark»?».
Examples:
Ты студент? Are you a stusdent?
Я на работе? Am I at work?
Это кот? Is it a cat?

PREPOSITIONS

In order to get it more easy, here is a picture demonstrating

prepositions in the two-dimensional space.

12
 EXAMPLES
ЭТО САМОЛЁТ? НЕТ, ЭТО ВЕРТОЛЁТ. Is it an airplane? No,
this is a helicopter.
Я ПРЫГАЮ НА БАТУТЕ. I am jumping on the trampoline.
ПРИНТЕР ПЕЧАТАЕТ БУМАГУ. The printer prints paper.
Я ИЗУЧАЮ ИНОСТРАННЫЙ ЯЗЫК I study foreign language
(Язык — language)
Я ОБМЕНИВАЮ ДЕНЬГИ I exchange money (Деньги — money)

13
 МАМА НЕ РАЗРЕШАЕТ ИГРАТЬ НА УЛИЦЕ Mom doesn’t let
to play outdoors (Улица — street, На улице — outdoors)
Я ПОНИМАЮ МНОГО ЯЗЫКОВ I understand many languages
ДИСК НЕ КОМПЬЮТЕРЕ, ОН СНАРУЖИ The disk is not
in computer, it is outside
ОНИ В ДОМЕ They are in house
МЫ ЗДЕСЬ, НО ОНИ В ДРУГОМ ГОРОДЕ We are here but they
are in another city (Но — but, другой — another)
МОЛОКО НА СТОЛЕ The milk is on the table
ОНА В АВТОБУСЕ She is in bus (Автобус — bus)
ОН ЛЕТАЕТ НА САМОЛЁТЕ He flies by airplane
Have you noticed different endings of nouns? If you didn’t —
don’t worry! It is cases — this subject will be considered in lessons
6, 7, 8.

14
 LESSON 3: PAST TENSE
In this lesson we will consider the past tense of verbs including
the verb БЫТЬ — to be. We will consider only imperfective aspect
of verbs, and what is it — you’ll know later, in lesson 16, and now
just focus on this lesson! Verbs of 2nd conjugation have endings
[-ИЛ] [-ИЛА] [-ИЛИ] [-ИЛО]. Verbs in the past tense have
parameters: gender and plural/singular.

Notice that verbs in masculine gender have ending [-ИЛ],

in feminine [-ИЛА], in neuter (only for items and some animals)
[-ИЛО], and in plural [-ИЛИ] but I recommend just to remember
which form to use with each pronoun. In order to improve your skill
of verb conjugation, conjugate at least 100—150 verbs by yourself.
Let’s conjugate the verb УЧИТЬ with negation — НЕ УЧИТЬ
(not to learn):

15
PHRASEBOOK
Общие фразы Common phrases

Как Ваши дела? How are you? (formal)

Хорошо, а у тебя? I am fine, and you? (formal)
Хорошо, а у Вас? I am fine, and you? (informal)
Спасибо! Thank you!
Не за что! You’re welcome!

Да Yes
Нет No

До свидания! Good bye! (formal)

Пока! Bye! (informal)

Извините! Excuse me!

Простите! I am sorry!
На здоровье! Cheers!

Как тебя зовут? What is your name? (informal)

Как Вас зовут? What is your name? (formal)

Меня зовут… My name is…

Приятно познакомиться! Nice to meet you!

Откуда ты? Where are you from? (informal)

Откуда Вы? Where are you from? (formal)

Я из… I am from…

Сколько тебе лет? How old are you? (informal)

Сколько Вам лет? How old are you? (formal)

Мне… лет I am… years old

79
 Оглавление
Table of contents
Alphabet and rules of reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Simple rules of reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
LEVEL 1: 15 lessons for beginners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
LESSON 1: VERBS IN PRESENT TENSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
LESSON 2: «TO BE» IN PRESENT TENSE, PREPOSITIONS . . . 12
PREPOSITIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
LESSON 3: PAST TENSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
LESSON 4: FUTURE TENSE AND VERBS OF MOTION . . . . . . . 18
VERBS OF MOTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
LESSON 5: GENDERS AND PLURAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
LESSON 6: CASES OF PRONOUNS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
LESSON 7: CASES OF NOUNS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
LESSON 8: CASES OF ADJECTIVES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
LESSON 9: TO HAVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Something, nobody, ewerywhere etc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
LESSON 10: REFLEXIVE VERBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
LESSON 11: TO NEED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
LESSON 12: MUST/TO HAVE TO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
LESSON 13: IMPERATIVE MOOD AND THE PARTICLE «БЫ» 46
Particle БЫ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
LESSON 14: THERE IS/THERE ARE AND SIMPLE
DIALOGUES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS AND SOME IDIOMS . . . . 48
LESSON 15: DEGREES OF COMPARISON AND
A PRACTIAL TASK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
LEVEL 2: 10 LESSONS FOR ADVANCED BEGINNERS . . . . . . . 55
LESSON 16: PERFECTIVE ASPECT OF VERBS AND ITS
PREFIXES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
LESSON 17: PERFECTIVE FORM OF IMPERATIVE MOOD . . . 59
LESSON 18: PARTICIPLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
LESSON 19: PARTICIPLES 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
LESSON 20: SHORT ADJECTIVES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
LESSON 21: POSSESSIVE CASE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
LESSON 22: DIMINUTIVE SUFFIXES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
LESSON 23: MORE ABOUT DEGREES OF COMPARISON . . . . . 67
 LESSON 24: REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
LESSON 25: SUMMARIZING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
LINKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
ALPHABET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Simple rules of reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
NUMBERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
PHRASEBOOK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
IRREGULAR VERBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83