Russian language self study guide for beginners
Developed by Dr. Julia Rochtchina.
Introduction. Russian letters and sound system | |||
Russian alphabet | Sounds, handwriting, keyboard | ||
Introductory Lesson 1 | Reading syllables. Translating This is…, Here is… | ||
Introductory Lesson 2 | Reading syllables. Conjunctions и and а | ||
Introductory Lesson 3 | Learn Russian hushing and velar sounds. Stress and vowel reduction (а, о) | ||
Quiz 1 | Check what you have learned from Lessons 1-3 with this 10 minute quiz. | ||
Introductory Lesson 4 | Letters ц,й,ы,и | ||
Introductory Lesson 5 | Learn Russian 7-letter spelling rule | ||
Introductory Lesson 6 | Learn Russian Hard and Soft сonsonants. Vowel reduction (я, е) | ||
Quiz 2 | Check what you have learned from Lessons 4-6 with this 15 minute quiz. | ||
Introductory Lesson 7 | Letters ь and ъ. Pronunciation of я, ё, ю, е. Letters к, г, х | ||
Introductory Lesson 8 | Unpaired hard and soft consonants. The soft consonant й | ||
Quiz 3 | Check what you have learned from Lessons 7-8 with this 15 minute quiz. | ||
Introductory Lesson 9 | Voiced and Voiceless Consonants. Devoicing of Final Consonants. Consonant Clusters | ||
Introductory Lesson 10 | Pronunciation of г, ч, тся and ться | ||
Phrasebook Topic 1 | Learn how to greet people and say goodbye in Russian | ||
Phrasebook Topic 2 | Introducing Yourself in Russian | ||
Quiz 4 | Check what you have learned from Lessons 7-8 with this 10 minute quiz. | ||
Russian grammar and vocabulary. Unit 1 | |||
Grammar Lesson 1 | Gender of Nouns: Hard Stem. Personal pronouns он (he), она (she), оно (it). “The” and “a”.”To be” in the Present tense | ||
Grammar Lesson 2 | Gender of Nouns: Hard and Soft Stems. Exceptions | ||
Grammar Lesson 3 | Nominative Plural of Nouns | ||
Grammar Lesson 4 | Personal Pronouns я, ты, он, она, оно, мы, вы, они. Ты vs. Вы | ||
Phrasebook Topic 3 | Professions | ||
Phrasebook Topic 4 | Learn Russian Names: Last Name, First Name and Patronimic | ||
Quiz 5 | Check what you have learned from Grammar Lessons 1-4 and Phrasebook Topics 3-4 with this 20 minute quiz. | ||
Test 1 | Check what you have learned from Russian Letters and Sound System section and Grammar Lessons 1-4 | ||
Russian grammar and vocabulary. Unit 2 | |||
Grammar Lesson 5 | Asking Whose in Russian? The Possessive Pronouns его, её, их, наш, ваш | ||
Grammar Lesson 6 | Asking What and Who? Nominative case. Asking Where? Prepositional case | ||
Phrasebook Topic 5 | Family | ||
Phrasebook Topic 6 | At the Airport | ||
Quiz 6 | Check what you have learned from Grammar Lessons 5-6 and Phrasebook Topics 5-6 with this 10 minute quiz. | ||
Grammar Lesson 7 | What is an Adjective? Nominative Case of Adjectives | ||
Grammar Lesson 8 | Demonstrative Pronouns этот and тот. Indeclinable это vs. Demonstrative pronouns этот (эта, это, эти) | ||
Phrasebook Topic 7 | Clothes | ||
Phrasebook Topic 8 | Learn numbers 1-20 in Russian | ||
Quiz 7 | Check what you have learned from Grammar Lessons 7-8 and Phrasebook Topic 7 with this 10 minute quiz. | ||
Test 2 | Check what you have learned from Grammar Lessons 5-8 and Phrasebook Topics 5-8. | ||
Russian grammar and vocabulary. Unit 3 | |||
Grammar Lesson 9 | Location. Prepositions в (во) and на. В доме vs. дома | ||
Grammar Lesson 10 | What is a Verb. Verb Infinitive. The Past Tense | ||
Phrasebook Topic 9 | Learn numbers 21-199 in Russian | ||
Phrasebook Topic 10 | Learn numbers 200-1000 in Russian | ||
Quiz 8 (Week 6) | Check what you have learned from Grammar Lessons 9-10 and Phrasebook Topics 9-10 with this 10 minute quiz. | ||
Grammar Lesson 11 | Present Tense of Verbs. Verb Conjugation. Conjugation of verbs жить, писать. Stress in Verbs | ||
Grammar Lesson 12 | About what vs about who. The preposition о (об). Prepositional Case of Personal Pronouns. Verbs говорить, рассказывать, спрашивать | ||
Quiz 9 | Check what you have learned from Grammar Lessons 11-12 with this 10 minute quiz. | ||
Test 3 | Check what you have learned from Grammar Lessons 9-12 and Phrasebook Topics 9-10. | ||
Russian grammar and vocabulary. Unit 4 | |||
Grammar Lesson 13 | Questions ‘Какой’ and ‘Как?’: Adjectives vs Adverbs.Formation of Adverbs. Adverbs of Place and Time | ||
Grammar Lesson 14 | Talking about languages: русский язык vs по-русски. Language skills vs study or knowledge of language | ||
Phrasebook Topic 11 | Languages | ||
Phrasebook Topic 12 | Cardinal and Ordinal Numerals | ||
Quiz 10 | Check what you have learned from Grammar Lessons 13-14 and Phrasebook Topic 11 with this 10 minute quiz. | ||
Grammar Lesson 15 | Denoting a Direct Object. Accusative Case of Nouns (Formation of Singular Forms). Transitive and Intransitive verbs | ||
Grammar Lesson 16 | Accusative Case of Adjectives, Possessive and Demonstrative Pronouns. The verb хотеть – to want | ||
Grammar Lesson 17 | Studying and Teaching: изучать, учиться, заниматься, преподавать. Verbs with -ся | ||
Phrasebook Topic 13 | Subjects at School | ||
Phrasebook Topic 14 | About Myself | ||
Quiz 11 | Check what you have learned from Grammar Lessons 15-17 and Phrasebook Topics 13-14 with this 10 minute quiz. | ||
Test 4 | Check what you have learned from Grammar Lessons 13-17 and Phrasebook Topics 11-14. | ||
Russian grammar and vocabulary. Unit 5 | |||
Grammar Lesson 18 | Irregular Plurals of Nouns | ||
Grammar Lesson 19 | The -ова- Stem Verbs. The verb любить – to love | ||
Phrasebook Topic 15 | Countries and Nationalities | ||
Quiz 12 | Check what you have learned from Grammar Lessons 18-19 and Phrasebook Topics 15 with this 15 minute quiz. | ||
Grammar Lesson 20 | The Prepositional Case of Adjectives. Uses and Forms | ||
Grammar Lesson 21 | The Prepositional Case of Possessive and Demonstrative Pronouns. Uses. Singular and Plural Forms | ||
Phrasebook Topic 16 | About My Friends | ||
Quiz 13 | Check what you have learned from Grammar Lessons 20-21 and Phrasebook Topics 16 with this 15 minute quiz. | ||
Test 5 | Check what you have learned from Grammar Lessons 18-21 and Phrasebook Topics 15-16. | ||
Russian grammar and vocabulary. Unit 6 | |||
Grammar Lesson 22 | Expressing Possession: Genitive Case of Nouns (introduction). Uses and Singular forms. Question Чей? – Whose? | ||
Grammar Lesson 23 | Genitive Case of Adjectives, Possessive and Demonstrative Pronouns | ||
Grammar Lesson 24 | Indicating Having And Not Having Something. Genitive Case of Personal Pronouns | ||
Phrasebook Topic 17 | Food | ||
Quiz 14 | Check what you have learned from Grammar Lessons 22-24 and Phrasebook Topics 17 with this 15 minute quiz. | ||
Grammar Lesson 25 | Verbs of Going (introduction). Going by foot vs. going by vehicle. Saying “Let’s go!”. Asking Where: Где? vs. Куда? | ||
Grammar Lesson 26 | Denoting an Indirect Object. Dative Case of Nouns. Uses and forms. Dative Case of Personal Pronouns | ||
Grammar Lesson 27 | Dative Case of Adjectives, Possessive and Demonstrative Pronouns | ||
Quiz 15 | Check what you have learned from Grammar Lessons 25-27 and Phrasebook Topic 17 with this 15 minute quiz. | ||
Test 6 | Check what you have learned from Grammar Lessons 22-27 and Phrasebook Topic 17. | ||
Russian grammar and vocabulary. Unit 7 | |||
Grammar Lesson 28 | Verbs that take the Dative Case. The preposition по | ||
Grammar Lesson 29 | Expressing Availability and Necessity. Short-form adjectives занят vs. свободен; должен | ||
Grammar Lesson 30 | Verbal Aspect (introduction). Meaning of Aspect. Aspect and Tense. Future Tense: Imperfective and Perfective Future. Aspectual Pairs | ||
Grammar Lesson 31 | The Instrumental Case of Nouns. The Instrumental Case of Personal Pronouns. Uses and forms. | ||
Grammar Lesson 32 | The Instrumental Case of Adjectives, Possessive and Demonstrative Pronouns. Summary of endings | ||
Quiz 16 | Check what you have learned from Grammar Lessons 28-32 with this 15 minute quiz. | ||
Test 7 | Check what you have learned from Grammar Lessons 28-32. | ||
Russian grammar and vocabulary. Unit 8 | |||
Grammar Lesson 33 | Verbs of Going: Unidirectional and Multidirectional (идти vs ходить). Present Tense forms of идти, ходить, ехать, ездить). Past Tense of Going Verbs. Introduction | ||
Grammar Lesson 34 | Uses of the Dative Case: Subjectless Expressions with Dative. Expressing Necessity, possibility and permission. Expressing Age | ||
Grammar Lesson 35 | Expressing Likes and Dislikes: verbs нравиться and любить | ||
Phrasebook Topic 18 | Shopping for Gifts | ||
Summary Tables | |||
Noun and Adjective Endings | Russian Nominative, Prepositional, Accusative, Genitive, Dative, Instrumental cases. | ||
Forms of Pronouns | Personal Pronouns; Interrogative Pronoun | ||
Summary of Case Uses. | Basic uses of Nominative, Prepositional, Accusative, Genitive, Dative, Instrumental cases. | ||
Verb Endings | Verb Endings: First and Second conjugation. Regular Forms. | ||
Most Common Irregular Verbs | First conjugation verbs with stems ending in a consonant: | ||
Russian Language Games | |||
Hangman Games | Russian Hangman Games Master your vocabulary: practice spelling Russian words | ||
Pics and Audio Games | Master your Russian vocabulary | ||
Words and Pictures Games | Practice recognizing the words form your Russian vocabulary list | ||
Grammar Games and Exercises | Master the Russian grammar rules you have learned |
There have been three major Sakha writing systems used since the early 20th century. The first systematic alphabet was developed by Semyon Novgorodov, and was based on the International Phonetic Alphabet. Novgorodov’s alphabet was developed in 1917, and continued in use until 1929. In addition to the characters shown below, Novogorodov also introduced four letters to represent the diphthongs found in Sakha: /ɯa͡/ – , /ie͡/ – , /uo͡/ – , and /yø͡/ – w. Vowel and consonant length was indicated with the colon (e.g. a:, t:). While this alphabet was in use, various changes were implemented, including the addition of capital letters. After 1929, Novgorodov’s alphabet was replaced by a form of Latin script based on the Uniform Turkic Alphabet.[1] This was in turn replaced in 1939 by an alphabet using the Cyrillic script. Prior to the Novgorodov alphabet, various ad hoc phonetic Latin and Cyrillic-based systems had been developed.
Currently only the Cyrillic Sakha alphabet is in use. This script consists of the usual Russian characters but with 5 additional letters: Ҕҕ, Ҥҥ, Өө, Һһ, Үү.
IPA | 1819–1858 | 1851–1917 | 1858–1917 | 1917–1927 (Novgorodov Alphabet) | 1924–1929 | 1929–1939 (Uniform Turkic Alphabet) | 1939–Present | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
a | Аа | Аа | Аа | a | Aa | Aa | Аа | |
b | Бб | Бб | Бб | b | Bb | Bв | Бб | |
v | Вв | – | – | – | – | Vv | Вв | found only in Russian loanwords |
ɡ | Гг | Гг | Гг | g | Gg | Gg | Гг | |
ɣ, ʁ | – | Ҕҕ | – | ʃ | Ƣƣ | Ҕҕ | ||
d | Дд | Дд | Дд | d | Dd | Dd | Дд | |
ɟ | – | Џџ | з | Зз | Çç | Дьдь | ||
e, je | Ее | – | Ее | – | – | Ee | Ее | found only in Russian loanwords |
jo | – | – | – | – | – | – | Ёё | found only in Russian loanwords |
ʒ | Жж | – | – | – | – | Ƶƶ | Жж | found only in Russian loanwords |
z | Зз | – | – | – | – | Zz | Зз | found only in Russian loanwords |
i | Ии,Іі | Іі | Ии | i | Ii | Ii | Ии | |
j | – | Јј | Йй | j | Jj | Jj | Йй | |
ȷ̃ | – | – | – | j̶ | – | – | – | |
k | Кк | Кк | Кк | k | Kk | Kk | Кк | |
l | Лл | Лл | Лл | l | Лл | Ll | Лл | |
ʎ | – | Ll | – | ʎ | Ll | – | – | |
m | Мм | Мм | Мм | m | Mm | Mm | Мм | |
n | Нн | Нн | Нн | n | Nn | Nn | Нн | |
ŋ | – | Ңң | Ҥҥ | ŋ | Ņŋ | Ņŋ | Ҥҥ | |
ɲ | – | Н̕н̕ | – | ɲ | Njnj | Ньнь | ||
o | Оо | Оо | Оо | ɔ | Ɔɔ | Oo | Оо | |
ø | – | Ӧӧ | Ёё | Ɵɵ | Өө | |||
p | Пп | Пп | Пп | p | Pp | Pp | Пп | |
r | Рр | Рр | Рр | r | Rr | Rr | Рр | |
s | Сс | Сс | Сс | s | Ss | Ss | Сс | |
h | – | һ | – | h | Hh | Hh | Һһ | |
t | Тт | Тт | Тт | t | Tt | Tt | Тт | |
u | Уу | Уу | Уу | u | Uu | Uu | Уу | |
y | – | Ӱӱ | – | y | Yy | Yy | Үү | |
f | Фф, Ѳѳ | – | – | – | – | Ff | Фф | found only in Russian loanwords |
x | Хх | Хх | Хх | q | – | – | Хх | |
ts | Цц | – | – | – | – | – | Цц | found only in Russian loanwords |
tʃ | Чч | Чч | Чч | c | Cc | Cc | Чч | |
ʃ | Шш | – | – | – | – | Şş | Шш | found only in Russian loanwords |
ɕː | Щщ | – | – | – | – | – | Щщ | found only in Russian loanwords |
◌. | Ъъ | Ъъ | – | – | – | – | Ъъ | found only in Russian loanwords |
ɯ | Ыы | Ыы | Ыы | ɯ | Ыы | Ьь | Ыы | |
◌ʲ | Ьь | Ьь | – | – | – | – | Ьь | found only in digraphs (дь, нь) and Russian loanwords |
e | Ее | Ää | Ээ | e | Ee | Əə | Ээ | |
ju | Юю | Юю | – | – | – | – | Юю | found only in Russian loanwords |
ja | Яя | Яя | – | – | – | – | Яя | found only in Russian loanwords |