Russian without toil 28

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Russian for English speakers 1951

Russian for English speakers 21

Lesson 21

	Russian Русский	English Английский
	58 - пятьдесят восемь	fifty eight
	59 - пятьдесят девять	fifty nine
	60 - шестьдесят	sixty
	61 - шестьдесят один	sixty one

	Двадцать первый (21-й) урок	Twenty first lesson

	УРОК НОМЕР ДВАДЦАТЬ ОДИН (№21)	Lesson number twenty one (#21)

		REVISION AND NOTES

1		There are three genders in Russian : masculine, feminine and neuter. To name living creatures, the masculine s used for males, the feminine for females. But, for inanimate objects or abstract nouns there is no mechanical rule. However it is very easy to know the genders of nouns thanks to their endings.
1.1		Masculine. — When a noun ends by a consonant, it is masculine. Thus :
	город	town, city
	стол	table
	урок	lesson
	самовар	samovar
	билет	ticket
	театр	theatre
	барабан	drum
	раз	(one) time, an occurrence
	диплом	diploma
	язык	language, tongue
	друг	friend
	ресторан	restaurant
	хлеб	bread
	сыр	cheese
	снег	snow
	мороз	frost (extreme coldness)
	подарок	gift (a present)
		are masculine

		But there are also masculine nouns in й and ь.
		Thus :
	портной	tailor
	лентяй	a do-nothing, an idler, "a lazy one"
	день	day
	госпиталь	hospital

1.2		Feminine : the ending а or я (save for a few exceptions) denotes the feminine. Thus :
	работа	work
	деревня	country (countryside) or village
	комната	a room; bedroom = спальня, спальная комната
	игрушка	toy
	труппа	theater troop; company = компания
	зима	winter
	голова	head
	газета	newspaper
	лестница	staircase

		When a noun in а is not feminine, it is because its meaning makes it impossible. E.g.,
	папа	daddy
		is naturally masculine.
		There are also feminines in ь, like
	мать (мама)	mother

1.3		Neuter. — The neuter is characterized by the final о, е, and sometimes мя. Thus :
	слово	word
	письмо	letter (to some one); a letter of an alphabet is буква
	место	place
	пальто	overcoat
	вино	wine
	упражнение	exercise
	произношение	pronunciation
	время	time (on clock)

1.4		In short : masculine : consonant, й or ь. feminine : а or я or ь. neuter : о or е or мя.

2		The adjective agrees with the noun :
	Вот красивый самовар	here is a beautiful samovar.
	Вот красивая комната	here is a beautiful room ~~bedroom~~.
	Вот красивое слово	here is a beautiful word.

		There is also a short form of the adjective :
	Этот самовар красив	this samovar is beautiful. AK-NOTE : Real meaning is "this samovar is in a state of beautifulness".
	Эта комната красива	this room ~~bedroom~~ is beautiful.
	Это слово красиво	this word is beautiful.

		However the short form is used less and less in the current language.
		AK-NOTE : See lesson 20, note 6, AK-NOTE about adjectives as adverbs.

3		Declensions : we have only had a glimpse of the declension of nouns. In the masculine, we have seen that the dative is in у :
	Ваш ребёнок	your (pl.) child (nominative)
	Вашему ребёнку	to or for your child (dative) (the о of the last syllable is left out).

		We should have in the same way :
	Ваш муж	your (pl.) husband.
	Вашему мужу	to or for your husband.

	Мой обед	my dinner.
	Моему обеду	to or for my dinner.

	Наш друг	our friend.
	Нашему другу	to or for our friend.

		In the feminine, it was the genitive we came across :
	Жажда	thirst.
	Без жажды	without thirst.

	Без	without
		, is always followed by the genitive, as if one said : without of thirst.

		Also in the plural :
	Игрушка	toy.
	Игрушки	toys.

Tweested English Section

REFERENCES. — If a word or a turn of speech keeps escaping your memory,
make a reference to it by noting down the page further on in the book.

These are nothing but bits of declensions, which simply serve to show us the principles.
Be prepared for more intricate things, but do not be afraid :
we ask of you no sensational achievement,
we shall do as the bird which, twig by twig, builds its nest.