Dmitry Petrov

RUSSIAN

A BASIC TRAINING COURSE

 The training material presented in this manual
will introduce you to the basic structures
of the Russian language.

The suggested method will enable you to practice these

structures on your own, so that you can learn
to use them automatically within a relatively
short period of time.

We did our best to present the material

in a user-friendly manner, so as to make your learning
process as enjoyable and efficient as possible.

Dmitry Petrov
 УДК – 811.161.1
ББК – 81.2 – Rus.
П30

D.Y.Petrov
П30 The Russian language. Basic training course / Dmitry Petrov. –
M.: Dmitry Petrov’s center, 2014. – 304 p.

ISBN 978-5-990567-40-5

12+

This book presents a basic course of the Russian language based on the the teaching
methods of Dmitry Petrov, which have been adapted for self-study.
Each lesson contains a number of practical exercises which help students develop
the skills necessary to use the basic structures of the Russian language.
The textbook will be useful for beginner, as well as intermediate students of Russian.

УДК – 811.161.1
ББК – 81.2 – Rus.

Graphic Design: Olga Vashchevskaya

WITH THE SUPPORT

OF THE GOVERNMENT
OF MOSCOW

ISBN 978-5-990567-40-5

© D.Y.Petrov, V.V.Ogiievskyi.
© Design: D.Y.Petrov, V.V.Ogiievskyi.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form whatsoever
without the written permission of the owner of the copyright.

ISBN 978-5-990567-40-5
 CONTENTS
Russian Alphabet 8

Practical Guidelines 10

LESSON 1 11

LESSON 2 27

LESSON 3 45

LESSON 4 61

LESSON 5 79

LESSON 6 97

LESSON 7 113

LESSON 8 131

LESSON 9 145

LESSON 10 163

LESSON 11 183

LESSON 12 199

LESSON 13 215

LESSON 14 233

LESSON 15 253

LESSON 16 273

Final Exercises 293

Full Contents 296

 Alphabet

Alphabet

Letter Example of use English equivalent

Aa мать mark

Бб Бог born

Вв волк voice

Гг год go

Дд дом dam

Ее есть, лес yet, after a consonant – men

yacht, after a consonant – learn

Ёё ёж, мёд
is always stressed

Жж жук pleasure

Зз зонт zoo

Ии их east

Ий мой toy

Кк кот kid

Лл лот lamp

Мм мост mug

Нн нос north

Оо он on

Пп пол port

8
 Alphabet

Letter Example of use English equivalent

room
Рр ром
is rolled like in Spanish or Italian

Сс сон soon

Тт тон ten

Уу ус book

Фф фон fan

Хх хвост human

Цц цирк pizza

Чч чин chin

Шш шарф fish

Щщ щи shchi

indicates hardness of the

ъ съем
previous consonant

pronounced as и but keeping the

ы сыр
previous consonant hard

indicates softness
ь семья
of the previous consonant

Ээ пэр pen

Юю юный, любовь youth, after a consonant – clue

Яя яркий, мяч yard, after a consonant – ciao

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Practical Guidelines
1. This book contains a basic course of Russian adapted for self-study.

2. All topics and words included in the textbook have been selected
according to their frequency of use in the Russian language.

3. The course is divided into 16 lessons.

4. Each lesson consists of descriptions of the basic patterns of the Russian

language and a large number of practical exercises.

5. The sentences offered for translation will help you memorize the basic
structures of the language and develop the skills to use these structures
in your daily life.

6. While learning, do not force yourself to memorize the words. It is better

to get back to them later.

7. If you have difficulties with any of the exercises, do not focus on it,
simply move on to the next one.

8. Answers to all exercises are freely available at our website, petrov16.com

 Lesson 1

...Learning a language is a mix of pure mathematics

and pure psychology.
Mathematics is involved in mastering the basic
language algorithms, just like the multiplication table.
Psychology accounts for letting go of fears
and hang-ups that a foreign language may generate...
 Lesson 1 I Etiquette

Etiquette

Приве]т! [privet] Hello!

До]брое у]тро! [dobraye utra] Good morning!

До]брый день! [dobriy den’] Good afternoon!

До]брый ве]чер! [dobriy vetcher] Good evening!

Споко]йной но]чи! [spakoynay nochi] Good night!

Извини]те [izviniti] Sorry

Спаси]бо [spasiba] Thank you

Пожа]луйста [pazhalusta] Please

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 Etiquette I Lesson 1

Etiquette

How are you?

Как дела]? [kak dila]

What is your name?

Как тебя] зову]т? [kak tibia zavut]
(informal)

What is your name?

Как Вас зову]т? [kak vas zavut]
(polite)

Меня] зову]т... [minia zavut] My name is ...

Прия]тно [priyatna
Nice to meet you
познако]миться paznakomitsa]

Хорошо] [harasho] Well

До свида]ния! [da svidaniya] Goodbye!

Пока]! [paka] Bye!

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 Lesson 1 I The Russian Verb

The Russian Verb

The most important part of speech is the lower-case verb.

It denotes lower-case action.

To conjugate a Russian verb, one should be familiar with the concept of tenses.
In Russian, there exist only three tenses: present, past and future.

 In addition, each Russian verb has two aspects (verb forms that indicate completion,
duration or repetition of an act):
· imperfective – when talking about an incomplete, continuous or repetitive action.
· perfective – when referring to a single or completed action.

 We are going to start with the verbs which are mostly used in the imperfective form.

GOOD NEWS!

The Russian language does not differentiate between «I work, I am working,

or I have been working».
There is only one present tense. So, «я рабо]таю» is equivalent to all the above English forms.

 Negative and interrogative sentences require neither auxiliary verbs nor а change
in the word order.

A question is expressed through the intonation.

Ты зна]ешь. – You know.

Ты зна]ешь? – Do you know?

A negation is formed by placing the particle «не» before the verb.

Ты не зна]ешь. – You don’t know.

Pronouns

я ты он она] мы вы они]

[ya] [ti] [on] [ana] [mi] [vi] [ani]

I you he she we you they

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 The Russian Verb I Lesson 1

Translate into Russian, find all the verbs in their respective forms on pages 18-25:

1. Hello! (…!)

2. Where do you live? (Где … ?)

3. Who knows? (Кто …?)

4. Where did he work? (Где ….?)

5. I am eating. (Я ….)

6. He is not working. (Он ….)

7. Did you sleep? (Ты …?)

8. Do you like to travel? (Вы любите …?)

9. When will we eat? (Когда …?)

10. I slept well. (Я ….)

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 Lesson 1 I Question and Time Words

Question and Time Words

Pages 18 through 25 contain the conjugation of eight important verbs. Combined with
the pronouns and the following question words, they allow us to form various sentences.

Кто? [kto] Who?

Что? [shto] What?

Где? [gde] Where?

Куда]? [kuda] Where (To)?

Когда]? [kagda] When?

Почему]? [pachimu] Why?

Отку]да? [atkuda] From where?

Как? [kak] How?

Ско]лько? [skolka] How much? How many?

 The structure «I am going to…» is translated into Russian using the future tense.

 When translating the sentences following the verb tables on pages 18 through 25,
you can use either perfective or imperfective forms. Both will be correct.

Ultimately, only the context can determine, which of the two will be more appropriate
(the perfective refers to completed actions, while the imperfective means their extension
or repetition). Sometimes, either one of them can be used with the same meaning.

 The imperative form of the verb can be translated either with a singular or with
a plural/polite form, since English does not differentiate between the two.

 Important time words:

вчера] [fchira] yesterday

сего]дня [sivodnya] today

за]втра [zaftra] tomorrow

сейча]с [sichas] now

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 Question and Time Words I Lesson 1

Translate into Russian, find all the verbs in their respective forms on pages 18-25:

1. What do you know? (… Вы знаете?)

2. Where will she live? (… она будет жить?)

3. Where is he travelling now? ( … он путешес твует …?)

4. When are you going to eat? (… ты будешь есть?)

5. Who is going to work tomorrow? (… будет работ ать завтра?)

6. Where does he work? (… он работает?)

7. Who is not sleeping now? (… сейчас не спит?)

8. What do you know? (… ты знаешь?)

9. Where will we eat? (… мы будем есть?)

10. When is he going to sleep? (… он будет спать?)

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 Lesson 1 I Verb Algorithm

ЖИТЬ
[ZHIT’]
to live
imperative живи(те)

+
Я бу]ду
imperfective

Ты бу]дешь
FUTURE

Он, она бу]дет

жить
Мы бу]дем
Вы бу]дете
Они бу]дут

Я живу]
Ты живёшь
PRESENT

Он, она живёт

Мы живём
Вы живёте
Они живу]т

sing. masc. Я, ты, он жил

imperfective
PAST

sing. fem. Я, ты, она жила]

plural Мы, вы, они жи]ли

Translate the following sentences from English into Russian:

1. Did they live?

2. She doesn’t live.

3. We don’t live.

4. She will live.

5. You will not live.

6. They lived.

7. Live! (polite)

8. I live.

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 Verb Algorithm I Lesson 1

ЛЮБИ]ТЬ
[L’UBIT’]
to love
imperative люби(те)

+
Я бу]ду
imperfective

Ты бу]дешь
FUTURE

Он, она бу]дет

люби]ть
Мы бу]дем
Вы бу]дете
Они бу]дут

Я люблю]
Ты лю]бишь
PRESENT

Он, она лю]бит

Мы лю]бим
Вы лю]бите
Они лю]бят

sing. masc. Я, ты, он люби]л

imperfective
PAST

sing. fem. Я, ты, она люби]ла

plural Мы, вы, они люби]ли

Translate the following sentences from English into Russian:

1. I love.

2. They loved.

3. She doesn’t love.

4. He will love.

5. Did they love?

6. We won’t love.

7. Will she love?

8. He loves.

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 Lesson 1 I Verb Algorithm

ЗНАТЬ
[ZNAT’]
to know
imperative знай(те)
+
Я бу]ду
imperfective

Ты бу]дешь
FUTURE

Он, она бу]дет

знать
Мы бу]дем
Вы бу]дете
Они бу]дут

Я зна]ю
Ты зна]ешь
PRESENT

Он, она зна]ет

Мы зна]ем
Вы зна]ете
Они зна]ют

sing. masc. Я, ты, он знал

imperfective
PAST

sing. fem. Я, ты, она зна]ла

plural Мы, вы, они зна]ли

Translate the following sentences from English into Russian:

1. Did you know?

2. I didn’t know.

3. We knew.

4. Do you know?

5. We will know.

6. I don’t know.

7. Did she know?

8. They will not know .

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