RUSSIAN TABLE

S Russian Coordinating Conjunctions: Master Sheet

ADVENTUUARGEE
IN LA N G

The most important or common Russian conjunctions are highlighted in blue.

Additive / copulative conjunctions – For making lists

Conjunction Translation Example Comments Punctuation

The most widely-used

conjunction in Russian. It can
Он любит шоколад и мороженое. connect words, phrases, and
и Comma must be used before и if it
and on LYUbit shakaLAT i maROzhinaye. clauses. Similarly to English, if
(i) connects clauses in a sentence.
He likes chocolate and ice cream. there are three or more elements
listed, и is normally only used
before the last one.

Он любит и шоколад, и мороженое,

и печенье.
Iterative conjunction, used in Comma must be used before second
и... и … on LYUbit i shakaLAT i maROzhinaye
… and … and … positive sentences. It can connect and the following и, unless it is a set
(i i) i piCHENye.
words, phrases, and clauses. phrase.
He likes both chocolate, and ice
cream, and cookies.

Он любит как шоколад, так и

Correlative conjunction. It can
мороженое.
как… так и connect words and phrases, but
both … and … on LYUbit kak shakaLAT tak i Comma must be used before так и.
(kak tak i) not clauses or sentences. Tends to
maROzhinaye.
be used in more formal situations.
He likes both chocolate and ice cream.

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 RUSSIAN TABLE
S Russian Coordinating Conjunctions: Master Sheet
ADVENTUUARGEE
IN LA N G

The most important or common Russian conjunctions are highlighted in blue.

Additive / copulative conjunctions – For making lists

Conjunction Translation Example Comments Punctuation

Он не любит ни шоколад, ни
мороженое, ни печенье. Iterative conjunction, used
Comma must be used before second
ни... ни… not … and on nye LYUbit ni shakaLAT ni in negative sentences. It can
and the following ни, unless it is a
(ni ni) not … maROzhinaye ni piCHENye. connect words, phrases,
set phrase.
He doesn’t like chocolate, nor and clauses.
ice cream, nor cookies.

Colloquial. Can be found in

Он любит только шоколад да
numerous idioms and set
мороженое.
да phrases. It can connect words, Comma must be used before да if it
and on LYUbit TOLka shakaLAT da
(da) phrases, and clauses. connects clauses in a sentence.
maROzhinaye.
He likes only chocolate and ice cream.
*can show contrast too

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 RUSSIAN TABLE
S Russian Coordinating Conjunctions: Master Sheet
ADVENTUUARGEE
IN LA N G

The most important or common Russian conjunctions are highlighted in blue.

Adversative conjunctions – For showing contrast

Conjunction Translation Example Comments

Эта машина хорошая, но дорогая.

но Can connect words, phrases, and clauses. Introduces
but Eta maSHYna khaROshaya no daraGAya.
(no) a contrasting characteristic of the same object.
This car is good but expensive.

Эта машина хорошая, а та нет.

Eta maSHYna khaROshaya a ta nyet.
This car is good, but that one isn’t. Can connect words, phrases, and clauses. Introduces either a
а
but / and completely opposite idea (This is not A, but B. / This is A, but
(a)
Это моя машина, а это мой дом. this is not.), or a different idea (This is A, and this is B.)
Eta maYA maSHYna a Eta moy dom.
This is my car, and that’s my house.

Эта машина хорошая, однако я не могу её себе

позволить.
однако
but / however Eta maSHYna khaROshaya adNAka ya ni maGOO Links mostly clauses and sentences. More formal than но.
(adNAka)
yiYO sibYE pazVOlit.
This car is good but I cannot afford it.

but at least Эта машина старая, зато дешёвая.

зато Can connect words, phrases, and clauses. Introduces the idea
/ on the plus Eta maSHYna STAraya zaTO diSHOvaya.
(zaTO) which compensates the previous one.
side This car is old but at least cheap.

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 RUSSIAN TABLE
S Russian Coordinating Conjunctions: Master Sheet
ADVENTUUARGEE
IN LA N G

The most important or common Russian conjunctions are highlighted in blue.

Adversative conjunctions – For showing contrast

Conjunction Translation Example Comments
Я люблю большие машины, мой друг же
Can only join clauses. Introduces contrasting ideas.
предпочитает компактные.
Always positioned after the subject of the second
же but / however ya lyubLYU balSHYye maSHYny moy droog
(dependent) clause, NOT at the beginning!
(zhe) / and zhe pritpachiTAyet kamPAKTnyie.
Comma must be put at the beginning of the dependent
I like big cars, but my friend prefers
clause, NOT immediately before же.
compact ones.

Эта машина хорошая, только дорогая.

только Can connect words, phrases, and clauses.
but Eta maSHYna khaROshaya TOLka daraGAya.
(TOLka) Colloquial synonym to но.
This car is good but expensive.

Эта машина хорошая, да уж больно дорогая. Can connect words, phrases, and clauses.
да Eta maSHYna khaROshaya da oosh BOLna Colloquial synonym to но.
but
(da) daraGAya.
This car is good but very expensive. *can be used for making lists too

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 RUSSIAN TABLE
S Russian Coordinating Conjunctions: Master Sheet
ADVENTUUARGEE
IN LA N G

The most important or common Russian conjunctions are highlighted in blue.

Alternative conjunctions – For listing options

Conjunction Translation Example Comments Punctuation

Comma must be used before или

if it connects clauses in a sentence.
Мы можем пойти в кино или в театр. If there are three or more choices,
The most common alternative
или my MOzhem payTEE f kiNO EELi f tyatr. или is normally used between the
or conjunction, joins words, phrases,
(EELi) We can go to the movies or to the last two. Sometimes, however, it
and clauses.
theater. can be used between every pair of
options in the list, with a comma
before each instance of или.

Мы можем пойти в кино, в музей, If there are three or more choices,

либо в театр. либо is normally used between the
A more formal synonym to или.
либо my MOzhem payTEE f kiNO v last two. Sometimes, however, it
or Usually joins words and parts of a
(LEEba) mooZYEY LEEba f tyatr. can be used between every pair of
sentence with identical function.
We can go to the movies, to the park, options in the list, with a comma
or to the theater. before each instance of либо.

Мы можем пойти или в кино,

или ... или … /
или в театр. Correlative conjunction. Used to
либо ... либо
my MOzhem payTEE EEli f kiNO provide options to choose from. Comma must be used before the
… either … or …
EEli f tyatr. Либо … либо … is used in more second conjunction.
(EEli EEli /
We can go either to the movies formal contexts.
LEEba LEEba)
or to the theater.

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 RUSSIAN TABLE
S Russian Coordinating Conjunctions: Master Sheet
ADVENTUUARGEE
IN LA N G

The most important or common Russian conjunctions are highlighted in blue.

Alternative conjunctions – For listing options

Conjunction Translation Example Comments Punctuation

Мы в выходные ходим то в кино, то в

Sometimes … театр, то в музей.
Iterative conjunction, shows
or some my v vykhadNYie KHOdim to f kiNO to f Comma must be used before
то … то … alteration of events / actions.
times … / tyatr to v mooZYEY. the second and all the following
(to to) Can connect words, phrases,
either … or … On weekends we go sometimes to the conjunctions.
and clauses.
or … movies, or sometimes to the theater,
or sometimes to a museum.

Они ушли то ли в кино, то ли в театр, Iterative conjunction. Used when

то ли … то ли
то ли в музей. the speaker is not sure about
… / не то … не Comma must be used before
whether … or … aNEE ooshLEE to li f kiNO to li f tyatr to something and makes guesses.
то … the second and all the following
/ either … or … li v mooZYEY. Can connect words, phrases, and
(to li to li / ni to conjunctions.
They went either to the movies, or to clauses. Не то is slightly more
ni to)
the theater, or to a museum. colloquial than то ли.

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 RUSSIAN TABLE
S Russian Coordinating Conjunctions: Master Sheet
ADVENTUUARGEE
IN LA N G

The most important or common Russian conjunctions are highlighted in blue.

Emphatic conjunctions – Emphasize the second part

Conjunction Translation Example Comments Punctuation

Она хотела не столько денег, сколько

не столько … независимости.
Correlative conjunction, joins
сколько … not so much … aNA khaTYEla ni STOLka DYEnik Comma must be used before
part of a sentence with similar
(ni SYOLka as … SKOLka nizaVEEsimasti. сколько.
function.
SKOLka) She wished not so much for money
as for independence.

Она хотела не только денег, но и

независимости.
не только … Correlative conjunction, joins
not only … aNA khaTYEla ni TOLka DYEnik no
но и … part of a sentence with similar Comma must be used before но и.
but also … i nizaVEEsimasti.
(ni TOLka no i) function.
She wished not only for money
but also for independence.

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 RUSSIAN TABLE
S Russian Coordinating Conjunctions: Master Sheet
ADVENTUUARGEE
IN LA N G

The most important or common Russian conjunctions are highlighted in blue.

Clarificatory conjunctions – Clarify the first part

Conjunction Translation Example Comments

Школьники, то есть дети от 7 до 18 лет, проходят регулярные

медицинские осмотры.
Used to provide an example or a more
то есть that is / namely SHKOLniki to yest DYEti at siMEE da vasimNAtsati lyet praKHOdyat
detailed description of words, phrases,
(TO yest) / which means rigooLYARnyie midiTSYNskiye asMOTry.
and clauses.
School students, that is children between 7 and 18 y.o., have regular
medical examinations.

В некоторых европейских странах, а именно в Германии, Чехии,

Польше, Финляндии и других, обучение в университете бесплатно.
v NYEkatarykh yivraPYEYskikh STRAnakh a EEmina v girMAnii CHEkhii Used to provide an example or a more
а именно namely / more
POLshe finLYANdii i drooGEEKH abooCHEniye v oonivyersiTYEtye detailed description of words, phrases,
(a EEmina) specifically
bisPLATna. and clauses.
In some European countries, namely in Germany, Czechia, Poland,
Finland, and others, university education is free.

8 [Link]
 RUSSIAN TABLE
S Russian Coordinating Conjunctions: Master Sheet
ADVENTUUARGEE
IN LA N G

The most important or common Russian conjunctions are highlighted in blue.

Adjunctive conjunctions – Give extra or secondary information

Conjunction Translation Example Comments Punctuation

Брат начал играть в футбол, я тоже

решил начать заниматься спортом.
также / тоже Comma must be used at the
too / also / brat NAchal iGRAT f footBOL ya TOzhe Used to join causes. Также is
(TAKzhe / beginning of a clause with
as well riSHYL naCHAT zaniMAtsa SPORtam. slightly more formal than тоже.
TOzhe) тоже / также.
My brother started to play football, so
I decided to start playing sports too.

Брат начал играть в футбол, а также

в волейбол и баскетбол.
and … too /
а также brat NAchal iGRAT f footBOL a TAKzhe Used to join words and phrases in Comma must be used before
and also /
(a TAKzhe) v valiBOL i baskyedBOL. a sentence. а также.
as well as
My brother started to play football, as
well as volleyball and basketball.

Брат начал играть в футбол, причём

профессионально.
причём and / notably /
brat NAchal iGRAT f footBOL priCHOM Used to connect words, phrases,
/ притом what’s Comma must be used before
prafisiaNALna. and clauses. Притом is slightly
(priCHOM / interesting / причём / притом.
My brother started to play football, more formal than причём.
priTOM) moreover
and what’s interesting, (he does that)
professionally.

Брат профессионально играет в футбол,

да и я неплохо.
Colloquial. Connects parts of
да и and … brat prafisiaNALna iGRAнуе f footBOL da
sentence with similar function, Comma must be used before да и.
(da i) too/either i ya niPLOkha.
and clauses.
My brother plays football professionally,
and I am not too bad at it either.

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