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REVISION AND NOTES |
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1 Declensions. -- Have you read again and again parag. 1 of less. 28? If
so, you can now take up the declension tables that you will find in the
grammatical appendix, p. 389. But don't try to learn these tables by
heart; peruse them attentively and refer to them occasionally, when you
need some additional explanation.
You cannot assimilate them in a few days; that will be the affair of our
"Second wave", which will start from lesson 57.
Above all, do not worry; we are walking in the grass and the path can
hardly be seen ; but by treading on it over and over again, it will come
out by itself. |
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2 Negative sentences generally require the genitive or "partitive"; it
is the same for verbs expressing a desire or need. Thus, we shall have :
я люблю вино, I like wine,
but : я хочу вина, I want some [= a certain
quantity of] wine.
— Я не люблю вина : I do not like wine. |
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3 When motion, or rather change of place is implied after the
prepositions в, на, за, the accusative is used :
Я еду в город: I go to the town.
Я живу в городе: I live in town.
Пойдём на завод: let us go to the factory.
Мы работаем на заводе: we work at the factory. |
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4 Из and От both mean
from, coming from, and are followed by the genitive; but there are
shades of meaning, just as between aus and von in German.
I have received a letter from Paris: я получил письмо из
Парижа.
I have received a letter from him : я получил письмо от
него.
От means from somebody, and из
from somewhere. |
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5 The feminine of nouns can be formed in ка, ца, ша
etc...
Thus: гражданин, the citizen;
гражданка, the "citizeness" ;
учитель, the master, teacher;
учительница, the mistress;
секретарь, the secretary (masс.),
секретарша, the secretary (fem.).
As a matter of fact, we find the same diversity as in English. |
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6 Бы is the invariable mark of the conditional.
Я хотел жить в Москве: I wanted to line in
Moscow.
Я хотел бы жить в Москве: I should like [want] to
live in Moscow.
Вы хотели бы, они хотели бы, you would like, they
would like.
But, with the characteristic suppleness of Russian, it may shift its
place :
Я хотел бы or я бы хотел,
I should like. |
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7 Reflective verbs are characterized by the final ся
in the infinitive.
In the present this ending changes into сь in the
first person singular and second person plural :
бояться: to fear (litter. "fear oneself");
я боюсь, он боится, вы
боитесь, мы боимся, они
боятся.
In the preterit : я боялся, он
боялся, вы боялись, мы
боялись, они боялись.
— In the feminine : я боялась,
она боялась.
— In the neuter : оно боялось. |
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8 Genitive in у.
— Beside the masculine genitive in а or
я, we sometimes come across a form in
у or ю, of popular
origin, and mostly with a partitive meaning.
Thus чашка чаю, a cup of tea,
кусок сахару (or сахара),
a piece of sugar.
Дайте мне квасу, коньяку, мёду, сыру: give me
some [a certain quantity of] kvass, cognac, honey, cheese.
We also see : я вышел из дому, I went out of the
house;
это без толку, this (is) without meaning.
— Час от часу, from hour to hour;
из году в год, from year to year.
In these phrases, the preposition always bears the chief stress.
In the same way, we find a prepositional in у
(stressed) after the prepositions в or
на :
на полу, on the floor; в лесу,
in the forest;
в прошлом году, last year; на
носу, on the nose;
в полку, in the regiment; во рту,
in the mouth (рот, the mouth) ;
на ходу, on the march; на Дону,
in the Don region; в Крым, in the Crimea, etc... |
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9 Знать, to know :
я знаю. где она: I know where she is.
— Я её знаю: I know her.
Уметь, to know how to, be able to :
умеете ли вы танцевать? Can you dance?
— Я не умею говорить свободно: I cannot speak
fluently. |
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The preposition с (or
со) means either with (+ instrum.) or, on the
contrary, off (+ genitive).
Она гуляет с моим братом,со мною,
she takes a walk with my brother, with me.
Он встал с постели, со стула, he rose off the
bed, of/ the chair. |
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Weird
Associations Section