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Russian for English speakers 35
Lesson 35

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Тридцать пятый (35-й) урок

Thirty fifth lesson
     
 

УРОК НОМЕР ТРИДЦАТЬ ПЯТЬ (№35)

Lesson number thirty five (#35)
REVISION AND NOTES
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 

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...
 

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.

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.

Weird Associations Section

We give you only fragmentary notes, or strictly indispensable explanations, without expatiating upon the grammar.
These are merely sign-posts on the road to be followed; a detailed map of the country is not to be thought of yet.