New CBB

Уроки русского
Lessons: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Reviews: 1-3
PDFs: 1, 5

Добро пожаловать! [dɐˈbro pɐˈʐaləvətʲ] (Welcome!) and thanks for reading this topic! Before I start out, let me make it clear that I am not a native Russian speaker. I have been studying Russian for several years now and am really interested in learning a more about it and helping others learn about it :). I am going to stick with what I know in these lessons. I encourage anyone with further knowledge to jump in and write your own lessons, and I will gladly add a link to that post on this post. If you have any comments, suggestions, or would like to point out an error — please post or send me a PM ;). Thanks again!

NEW: .pdf versions of the lessons are being prepared!

Information about these lessons
Here is a breakdown of what is learned in each lesson. Some lessons will be updated periodically. The first lesson was recently updated on February 3rd, 2012. Be prepared to read because the lessons are very large!



Russian and the East Slavic languages
Russian (русский язык [ˈrusʲkʲɪj jɪˈzɨk]) is an East Slavic language, along with Belarusian and Ukrainian. Rusyn is also sometimes considered another language in this group, but also considered by many to be a dialect of Ukrainian.

All of the East Slavic languages descend from a common predecessor, commonly known as the Old East Slavic Language. In Russian, this common predecessor is known as Древнерусский язык "The Old Russian language."



Russian is spoken primarily in Russia, but also in Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuannia, and several other countries. It is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, and the most widely spoken Slavic language. It is also the largest native language in Europe, with around 160 million speakers in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus.

Russian is notable for its hard-soft pairs of consonants and its reduction of unstressed vowels, which is kind of similiar to that of English. Stress is unpredictable and not normallly marked in spelling, unless the word is very rare. There are some homographic words that look the same when written, but are pronounced differently because they have different stress: пи́сать [ˈpʲisətʲ] "to pee" VS. писа́ть [pʲɪˈsatʲ] "to write."

Russian syllable structure can be complex. Up to four segments can occur in the onset and coda: (C)(C)(C)(C)V(C)(C)(C)(C), allowing for complex words like: взгляд [vzglʲat] "glance"; вскрикнуть [ˈfskrʲiknutʲ] "to cry out"; всхлип [fsxlʲip] "sob."

Russian dialects are divided into three groups: the Northern dialects (e.g. Arkhangelsk dialect and Novgorod dialect), the Central dialects (e.g. Moscow dialect), and the Southern dialects (e.g. Don dialect and Smolensk dialect). The Standard dialect (covered in these lessons) is based off of the Moscow dialect, which is a Central dialect. The Northern Russian dialects typically pronounce unstressed /o/ very clearly (оканье). The Southern Russian dialects typically pronounce unstressed /ʲe/ and /ʲa/ as /ʲa/ (яканье).

Typing in Cyrillic
If you are interested in being able to type without a virtual keyboard or copying and pasting - setting up your computer to type in Cyrillic is very easy. Windows 7 users (and possibly Vista?) can read directly below for how to do it, other Windows users may click here. Mac users can see this page.

I'm not sure if these steps are exactly the same in Vista, but it shouldn't be far off. If you are a Windows 7 user, simply go to the Control Panel and click on Region and Language. A new window will open up, and you now click on the Keyboards and Languages tab. Once there, click on the Change keyboards... button.
You will see your currently installed keyboards and right next to them is a button, Add. Click on it and find Russian. Simply check "Russian" and click OK. You are ready to go. You can now switch keyboards by either typing ALT+SHIFT or selecting Russian from the taskbar.

The keyboard layout for Russian is different from what you are accustomed to, but if you have learned how to type with the normal US-layout it shouldn't be very hard for you to get used to typing in Russian. Here's the Russian keyboard layout:



Resources

I have recently began blogging on learning Russian. If you are interested in checking it out visit therussianblog.wordpress.com!

Test your proficiency!

LEARN RUSSIAN ONLINE
Free Resources
MasterRussian.com
Online Russian Reference Grammar
RussianForEveryone.com
Beginning Russian Grammar
SEELRC Russian
RussianLessons.net
LearningRussian.net
ielanguages.com

Paid
RussianPod101 (some free material)

SOCIAL LEARNING
MyLanguageExchange.com
Livemocha.com Russian
Lang-8.com
Busuu.com Russian
italki (pay for lessons via Skype)

GAMES/PRACTICE
Quizlet Russian
Russian Language Learning Games
FlashcardExchange Russian

WIKIPEDIA
Russian language
History of the Russian language
Reforms of Russian orthography

IN RUSSIAN
Vesti.ru (News)
lukoshko.net (Stories)
Radio Svoboda (News)

OTHER USEFUL LINKS
Forvo: Russian
YouTube

RECOMMENDED BOOKS (Link to Amazon)
The New Penguin Russian Course
V Puti: Russian Grammar in Context
Comprehensive Russian Grammar
Using Russian, A Guide to Contemporary Usage
The Big Silver Book of Russian Verbs
Oxford Russian Dictionary
Collins Russian Consise Dictionary

If you know of some good websites or books, let me know and I'll update this post.

УРО́К 1

PDF: Download or view at Google Docs.

Introduction
In this lesson, you are going to learn about reading and writing in Russian. I do believe I have covered the absolute basics of pronunciation. Ultimately, the only path to mastery is listening to, and mimicking native speakers. So I recommend that you watch a lot of videos on YouTube, find you some Russian music, watch some Russian movies and tv shows, and get you some online Russian friends to Skype with. Be sure to check out the resources listed in the first post!

The alphabet
Below is the Russian alphabet, in alphabetical order with IPA for reciting it (e.g. [eɪ̯ bi si di i ɛf d͡ʒi]). Russian uses a form of the Cyrillic script, which is also used by its East Slavic sisters: Belarusian and Ukrainian. The Slavic languages of Bulgarian, Macedonian, Rusyn, and Serbian also use a form of the Cyrillic script. There are also several non-Slavic languages that use Cyrillic, notably Kazakh.

Аа - [a]
Бб - [bɛ]
Вв - [vɛ]
Гг - [gɛ]
Дд - [dɛ]
Ее - [je]
Ёё - [jo]
Жж - [ʐɛ]
Зз - [zɛ]
Ии - [ i ]
Йй - [i ˈkratkəjɪ]
Кк - [ka]
Лл - [elʲ]
Мм - [ɛm]
Нн - [ɛn]
Оо - [o]
Пп - [pɛ]
Рр - [ɛr]
Сс - [ɛs]
Тт - [tɛ]
Уу - [ u ]
Фф - [ɛf]
Хх - [xa]
Цц - [t͡sɛ]
Чч - [t͡ɕe]
Шш - [ʂa]
Щщ - [ɕːa]
ъ - [ˈtvʲordɨj znak]
ы - [ɨ]
ь - [ˈmʲæxʲkʲɪj znak]
Ээ - [ɛ]
Юю - [ju]
Яя - [ja]

Note: You definitely want to learn the alphabetical order of the Russian alphabet, and the pronunciation of the individual characters. It's a lot easier to operate a Russian-English dictionary when you know the Russian alphabet! Kinda hard when you don't :(.

The Consonants
We are going to start learning the consonants first. Almost all consonants come in two pairs: soft and hard. There are some exceptions: some consonants are always hard, while others are always soft.

Soft consonants are palatalized, which means that the center of the tongue is raised during and after the articulation of the consonant. Hard consonants are not palatalized..

Here are the hard-soft pairs:
Мм [m(ʲ)], Нн [n(ʲ)],
Пп [p(ʲ)], Бб [b(ʲ)], Тт [t(ʲ)], Дд [d(ʲ)], Кк [k(ʲ)], Гг [g(ʲ)],
Фф [f(ʲ)], Вв [v(ʲ)], Сс [s(ʲ)], Зз [z(ʲ)], Хх [x(ʲ)],
Рр [r(ʲ)], Лл [l(ʲ)]

Here are the consonants that are always soft:
Чч [t͡ɕ], Щщ [ɕː], Йй [j]

Here are the consonants that are always hard:
Жж [ʐ], Шш [ʂ], Цц [t͡s]

Voicing
Consonants are devoiced word-finally, and before voiceless consonants. Voiceless consonants may also be voiced before a voiced consonant.

It is important to note that [v] and [vʲ] does not cause a preceding voiceless consonant to become voiced, e.g. твой [tvoj] "your"; свет [sʲvʲɛt] "light."

(1) At the end of a word, voiced consonants become voiceless.
б > п as in: хлеб [xlʲɛp] "bread"
в > ф as in: лев [lʲɛf] "lion"
г > к as in: дог [dok] "Great Dane"
д > т as in: год [got] "year"
ж > ш as in: нож [noʂ] "knife"
з > с as in: газ [gas] "gas"

(2) A voiceless consonant is voiced when followed by a voiced consonant.
просьба [ˈprozʲbə] "request"
также [ˈtagʐɨ] "also"

(3) A voiced consonant is devoiced when followed by a voiceless consonant.
вкус [fkus] "taste"
водка [ˈvotkə] "vodka"

(4) Voicing or devoicing often occurs across word boundaries.
Как дела? [kəg dʲɪˈɫa] "How are things?"

Irregularities
There are some slight irregularities with Russian spelling.

<жч>, <сч>, <зч> are pronounced as [ɕː], e.g. мужчина [muˈɕːinə] "man"; счастье [ˈɕːasʲtʲjɪ] "happiness"

<жж> and <зж> are pronounced as [ʑː], e.g. поезжай! [pəjɪˈʑːaj] "go!"

In addition to the combinations above, some consonants are not pronounced at all. For example, the first <в> is often omitted in <вств> combinations, e.g. Здравствуйте [ˈzdrastvujtʲɪ] "Hello!"; чувство [ˈt͡ɕustvə] "feeling."

Also, <д> is not pronounced in сердце "heart" > [ˈsʲɛrt͡sə]; and <л> is not pronounced in солнце "sun" > [ˈsont͡sə].

The soft sign (<ь>) often appears after hard-only and soft-only consonants. It has no effect on this consonant, and instead is retained for traditional reasons (i.e. знаешь [ˈznajɪʂ] "(you) know") or to mark grammatical gender (i.e. дочь [dot͡ɕ] "daughter").

Vowels
Hard: а [a]; э [ɛ]; о [o]; у [ u ]; ы [ɨ]
Soft: я [ja]; е [jɛ]; ё [jo]; ю [ju]; и [ i ] or [ʲi] (1)

(1) <и> is pronounced as [ i ] word-initially, but when preceding a consonant it palatalizes that consonant, e.g. имя [ˈimʲə] "name"; милиция [mʲɪˈlʲit͡sijə] "police."

*The vowels themselves aren't actually "hard" or "soft", instead the consonants before them are. Therefore, the [j] in the 'soft' vowels becomes [ʲ], palatalizing the preceding consonant. For example: день [dʲenʲ] "day."

**Soft vowels do not palatalize hard-only consonants (<ж, ш, ц>), therefore: центр [t͡sɛntr] "center."

Note: It is important to understand that you do not actually pronounce the [j] sound after a consonant. You must understand palatalization and train your tongue to articulate the consonant correctly. The only time you should pronounce [j] is:
-word-initially (except for <и>): я [ja] "I"
-after a vowel: я знаю [ˈznaju] "I know"
-after <ь> and <ъ>: он пьёт [on pʲjot] "He drinks"; съезд [sjɛst] "descent."

The hard and soft signs
The soft sign (ь) indicates that the preceding consonant is soft, which means that the consonant is palatalized, e.g. день [dʲenʲ] "day."
The hard sign (ъ) indicates that the preceding consonant is hard. It is somewhat rare in modern Russian, e.g. съезд [sjɛst] "descent."

Stress
Russian stress is not fixed. It can occur on the first syllable in some words, on the second in others, and well you get the point - there's no way to determine stress. You simply have to remember the stress. Some words switch stress during inflection. There are some minimal pairs distinguished only by stress. For example, compare писать [ˈpʲisətʲ] "to pee" with писать [pʲɪˈsatʲ] "to write." They look exactly the same, don't they? Luckily, many dictionaries mark stress with acute accents, leading to: пи́сать and писа́ть - but this isn't customary in everyday, written Russian.

One nice fact to know is that <ё> is always stressed, but a disappointing reality is that <ё> is often simply written as <е> by many native Russians.

Changes of vowel sounds
Vowels change their sounds depending on nearby consonants and whether or not they are in stressed positions. You have probably noticed this in the IPA examples I have posted.

I have decided that the best way to organize this section is to discuss the rules for particular written letters.

А
(1) Unstressed <а> is reduced to [ɐ] in pretonic positions, directly before a stressed syllable. It is reduced to [ə] in all other positions.
банан [bɐˈnan] "banana"
мама [ˈmamə] "mom"

(2) Unstressed <а> is pronounced as [ɪ] after <ч>.
часы [t͡ɕɪˈsɨ] "watch"

(3) Unstressed <а> is pronounced as [ɨ] after <ж>.
жалеть [ʐɨˈlʲetʲ] "to regret"

Э
(4) Unstressed <э> is reduced to [ɪ].
экватор [ɪˈkvatər] "equator"

О
(5) Unstressed <о> is reduced to [ɐ] in pretonic positions, directly before a stressed syllable. It is reduced to [ə] in all other positions.
окно [ɐˈkno] "window"
молоко [məlɐˈko] "milk"

Я
(6) <я> is pronounced as [æ] between soft consonants.
пять [pʲætʲ] "five"

(7) Unstressed <я> is pronounced as [jɪ] or [ʲɪ] in word-initial positions, after a vowel, or after a soft consonant. This does not apply to grammatical endings.
язык [jɪˈzɨk] "language"
пояс [ˈpojɪs] "belt"
десять [ˈdʲesʲɪtʲ] "ten"

(8) Unstressed <я> is pronounced as [jə] in grammatical endings.
новая [ˈnovəjə] "new"

Е
(9) <е> is pronounced as [e] in between soft consonants.
семь [sʲemʲ] "seven"

(10) Unstressed <е> is pronounced as [jɪ] or [ʲɪ] in word-initial positions, after a vowel, or after a soft consonant.
еда [jɪˈda] "food"
поезжай! [pəjɪˈʑːaj] "go!"
телефон [tʲɪlʲɪˈfon] "telephone"

(11) Unstressed <е> is usually pronounced as [ə] in posttonic positions when directly following <ш ж ц>. However, certain occurances are pronounced as [ɨ].
хорошее [xɐˈroʂəjə] "good"
раньше [ˈranʲʂɨ] "earlier"

(12) Unstressed <е> is usually pronounced as [ɨ] in pretonic positions when directly following <ш ж ц>.
жена [ʐɨˈna] "wife"

И
(13) Unstressed <и> becomes [ɪ] in most environments.
русский [ˈrusʲkʲɪj] "Russian"

Spelling Rules
There are some spelling rules that you must get the hang of right away!

1. Write <и> instead of <ы> after <к г х ж ч ш щ>.
книги [ˈknʲigʲɪ] "books"
хороший [xɐˈroʂɪj] "good"

2. Write <а> and <у> instead of <я> and <ю> after <ж ч ш щ>.
я лежу [ja lʲɪˈʐu] "I am lying"
они лежат [ɐˈnʲi lʲɪˈʐat] "they are lying"

3. Write unstressed <е>, but stressed <о> after <ж ч ш щ ц>.
хорошее [xɐˈroʂəjə] "good"
большое [bɐlʲˈʂojɪ] "big"

Rules of combination
й/ь + а = я
й/ь + э/е = е
й/ь + у = ю
й/ь + о = е (unstressed)
й/ь + о = ё (stressed)
й/ь + ы = и

*When a soft vowel means <ь> or <й>, don't make any changes.

Conclusion
Hopefully you have a fair grasp on Russian pronunciation now. I don't expect you to be a master, though. You should read over this, and make sure you actually listen to some native Russians speaking. Please check out the resources available to you in the first post.

I praise you, sir. I have been hoping to learn Russian for many months now.

_________________
초보

:D This

_________________

I tried to say 'Good', and I spat everywhere. o.o'

_________________
Vasak Kseni du Lamisa Sensen sen.
Native:
Learning: Daljetz
Interest:

@testyal1 Thanks! It's a pretty language - I hope you stick with it!
@Ainuke lol

УРОК 2

Introduction
This is a fairly big lesson! I don't think I have packed it too full yet, though. We start off in the beginning learning about handwritten forms of Cyrillic characters. We then move to some basic words, phrases, names, and dialogs - where you learn the absolute basics (Hello, Good morning, How are you?, Good...). After that we take a look at person pronouns and then move into nouns and how to determine gender by simply looking at them. After discussing nouns, we will discuss possession and describing objects with adjectives! I've then got a list of vocabulary and some exercises for you try out!

Handwriting
When you write Russian words and sentences by hand, you should know that most native speakers learn a handwritten form that they probably use more often than the printed form. Even if you don't plan on writing much by hand - you should definitely study the handwritten form to understand what other people are writing.
Also, italicized forms tend to change (with most fonts) somewhat like the handwritten forms (compare: та́кже to та́кже).
You may have noticed that from above, the т now looks somewhat like м...Also another big difference is that и looks like the Latin u as in this example: русский > русский.
Check out the image below.



Handwriting isn't much different from the cursive handwriting you learned in school, but you must make sure that you add the little beginning stroke on я, л, and м...or these will easily begin to look like other characters.
Also note that some Russians write т just as it looks, or they often add a line above the handwritten form (the one that looks like an 'm'), and add a line below a handwritten ш - because these can tend to look the same with someone writing quick and sloppy.

The best way to learn additional info is to do a search on Google and try to find some images with native Russian handwriting.

Here are some of my examples. My handwriting is quite sloppy, but you should get the idea. We have met all of these words so far.



Basic words, phrases, names, and dialog
Below are some basic words and phrases that you should get to know.

да = yes
нет = no
э́то = this/that/it is
вот = here is/there is
что = what (ч is pronounced as ш [ʂto])
кто = who
где = where
(Большо́е) спаси́бо = Thank you (very much)
прости́те = excuse me/I'm sorry
извини́те = Sorry!
пожа́луйста = you're welcome, please (often pronounced quickly without уй [pɐˈʐalstə])
Не за что = you're welcome/that's alright/no problem

Здра́вствуйте = Hello (the first в isn't pronounced)
Приве́т = Hi (informal)
До́брое у́тро = Good morning
До́брый день = Good afternoon
До́брый ве́чер = Good evening
Споко́йной но́чи = Good night

До свида́ия = Good-bye
Пока́ = Bye! (informal)

Прия́тно познако́миться = Pleased to meet you.
О́чень прия́тно = Pleased to meet you (lit. Very pleasant; less formal I do believe)

Как (Вы) пожива́ете? = How are you?
Как (у тебя) дела́? = How are you? (informal)
(О́чень) хорошо́ = (Very) good
(не)пло́хо = (Not) bad
Всё норма́льно/хорошо́ = Everything's normal/good.
А ты/Вы? = And you? (informal/formal)

Как Вас зову́т? = What is your name?*
Меня́ зову́т... = My name is...

*You will encounter the second-person forms capitalized quite often; I don't know incorrect it is to not do so. You can also use the second-person singular, which might be more appropriate for an adult asking the name of a child: Как тебя́ зову́т?. Also this phrase is literally: "What do (they) call you?"

Here are some Russian names - you should search the web for some other common ones. Also, it should be known that Russians have three names: their first name, patronymic, and their surname. The patronymic names often end in -ович or -евич for males and -овна or -евна for females).

Male:
Алекса́ндр = Alexander
Бори́с = Boris
Влади́мир = Vladimir
Дми́трий = Dmitriy
Михаи́л = Mikhail

Female:
А́нна = Anna
Викто́рия = Victoria
Екатери́на = Catherine
Мари́я = Maria
О́льга = Olga

I think it's about time for some dailogs now.

М = Михаи́л "Mikhail"; Е = Екатери́на "Catherine, Ekaterina"
М: Здра́вствуйте!
---M: Hello!
Е: Здра́вствуйте!
---C: Hello!
М: Как пожива́ете?
---M: How are you?
Е: Спаси́бо, очень хорошо́. А Вы?
---C: Very good, thanks. And you?
М: О́чень хорошо́.
---M: Very good.
Е: Как Вас зову́т?
---C: What's your name?
М: Меня́ зову́т Миха́ил Ива́нович. А как Вас зову́т?
---M: My name is Mikhail Ivanovich. And what is your name?
Е: Меня́ зову́т Екатери́на Алекса́ндровна.
---C: My name is Catherine Alexandrovna.
М: Прия́тно познако́миться.
---M: Pleased to meet you.

С = Са́ша "Sasha" (familiar form of Александр); М = Ма́ша "Masha" (familiar form of Мари́я)

С: Приве́т!
---S: Hi!
М: Приве́т! Как дела́?
---M: Hi! How's it going?
С: Всё хорошо́! А как у тебя́ дела́?
---S: Everything is good! And how are you?
М: Всё норма́льно.
---M: Everything's normal.
С: Что э́то?
---S: What is this?
М: Э́то моя́ во́дка.
---M: That's my vodka.
С: Где моя́ во́дка?
---S: Where's my vodka?
М: Вот она́.
---M: Here it is.

Personal pronouns and expressing "to be"
Here are the personal pronouns in the Nominative/subject form.

я = I
ты = You (familiar, singular)
он/она́/оно́ = He/She/It (masculine/feminine/neuter gender)

мы = We
вы = You (formal, plural)
они́ = They

The third person singular pronouns not only refer to actual male and female persons (he and she in English), but they all also represent the gender of a noun.
There are three genders in Russian: masculine, feminine, and neuter. You will learn more about these nouns soon, but for now, here are some basic examples:

ма́льчик "boy" > masculine > он
де́вочка "girl" > feminine > она́
я́блоко "apple" > neuter > оно́

Где хлеб? Вот он. - 'Where is the bread? Here it is.'
Где во́дка? Вот она́. - 'Where is the vodka? Here it is.'
Где я́блоко? Вон оно́. - 'Where is the apple? Here it is.'

The verb "to be" is быть in Russian. But the only present tense form that exists is есть, not to be confused with есть "to eat". You will see more about this form later, but all you need to know now is that you do not use any verb for "x is y", "y is x", etc.

You can add не for negative sentences, "x is not y", "y is not x", etc.

Я америка́нец. - 'I'm an American.'
Ты не брита́нка. - 'You aren't a Briton.'
Он ру́сский. - 'He's Russian.'
Она́ ру́сская. - 'She's Russian.'
Оно́ я́блоко. - 'It's an apple.'
Мы не америка́нцы. - 'We aren't Americans.'
Вы китая́нка? - 'Are you Chinese?'
Они нидерла́ндцы. - 'They are Dutch people.'

Nouns - gender
You learned just a little while ago that there are three genders in Russian: masculine, feminine, and neuter. You may be wondering how to find a noun's gender. Well, it is actually fairly easy. You can simply look at most nouns and determine their gender.

Masculine nouns normally end in a consonant or -й.
ма́льчик "boy"
чай "tea"

Feminine nouns normally end in -а or -я.
де́вочка "girl"
Мари́я "Maria"

Neuter nouns end in -о or -е.
окно́ "window"
мо́ре "sea"

Nouns ending in -ь may be masculine or feminine. You must simply remember these nouns' endings - and trust me, it is important to remember them.
день "day" masculine
мать "mother" feminine

There are a few masculine nouns that end in -а and -я. These nouns are declined like feminine ones - but take masculine agreement (adjectives, past tense verbs).
мужчи́на "man"
дя́дя "uncle"

If a noun ends in -и, -у, or -ю it will probably be foreign borrowed and indeclinable, but neuter.
такси́ "taxi"
меню́ "menu"

However, foreign words denoting women are feminine - no matter what their endings are. However, if they end in anything other than -а, -я, or -ь - they are indeclinable.
Мэ́ри "Mary"

There are also a few neuter nouns that end in -я. The one you will most encounter is и́мя "name".

You should know be able to list the correct gender of the following words:
друг "friend"
подру́га "friend"
мост "bridge"
зда́ние "building"
маши́на "car"
же́нщина "woman"

Expressing ownership
У меня́ есть... - 'I have...'
In Russian there is no commonly used verb that corresponds to English's "to have", as in "I have a dog" or "I have a sister". Instead, you use у + genitive pronoun + есть + noun. You are literally saying "By me is..."

So, before we get started - let's have a look at the genitive pronouns which are exactly the same as the accusative ones (which is another lesson!).

я - меня́
ты - тебя́
он/оно́ - его́ (the г is pronounced like в [jɪˈvo])
она́ - её
мы - нас
Вы - Вас
они́ - их

*When preceded by a preposition, the third person pronouns add н- to the beginning. Therefore they will always do this when using у + pronoun + есть...

Now you know how to say that you have something!

У меня́ есть во́дка. - I have vodka.
У него́ есть соба́ка. - He has a dog.
У неё есть муж. - She has a husband.

Answering these questions is often simply done with есть for "yes" and нет for "no".

У тебя́ есть ко́фе? - Do you have coffee?
Есть. - Yes.
У тебя́ есть во́дка? - Do you have vodka?
Нет. - No.

Be aware that the genitive case is used to express negation in these places, but we will learn all about that in another lesson. For now, I think some examples will do.

У меня́ есть де́ти. - I have children.
У меня́ нет дете́й. - I don't have children.
У меня́ есть жена́. - I have a wife.
У меня́ нет жены́. - I don't have a wife.

Мой... - 'My...'
There are also possessive adjectives in Russian - as there are in English. However, Russian possessive adjectives must agree in gender, case, and number - except for the third person forms.
Here are the Nominative forms of all possessive adjectives.

Pronoun - Masculine - Feminine - Neuter - Plural
я = мой - моя́ - моё - мои́
ты = твой - твоя́ - твоё - твои́
он/оно́ = его́ (the г is pronounced like в [jɪˈvo])
она = её
мы = наш - на́ша - на́ше - на́ши
вы = ваш - ва́ша - ва́ше - ва́ши
они́ = их

Где твоя́ во́дка? - Where's your vodka?
Вот моя́ во́дка. - Here's my vodka.

Describing with adjectives
The last thing we will learn in this lesson: adjectives. I hope you don't feel abused. You've already been exposed to possessive adjectives; regular adjectives shouldn't give you much problems. As you might have guessed, adjectives must agree in gender, case, and number with the nouns they describe.

Она́ ру́сская. - She is Russian.
Он ру́сский. - He is Russian.
Моя́ краси́вая подру́га ру́сская. - My beautiful friend is Russian.

Spotting adjectives is extremely easy. There are three different endings you need to familiarize yourself with -ый, -ий, and -ой. You might be wondering why there are three different endings, but it is actually extremely simple to explain:
-ый - is the standard adjective ending. It is the most common.
-ий - is the ending for soft consonants or when spelling rules make it so (русский)
-ой - is the ending when the last syllable is stressed (большо́й)

The endings above are the masculine singular endings.

The other endings are fairly easy to figure out, below are declined examples of feminine, neuter, and plural adjectives. One big thing with adjective declension is remembering your spelling rules.

In all examples: masculine - feminine - neuter - plural

но́вый - но́вая - но́вое - но́вые "new"
после́дний - после́дняя - после́днее* - после́дние "last"
ру́сский - ру́сская - ру́сское - ру́сские "Russian"
большо́й - больша́я - большо́е - больши́е "big"

*All soft stemmed adjectives ending in -ний use -ее for the neuter.

но́вая кни́га - new book
но́вые кни́ги - new books
Кни́га но́вая. - The book is new.
Кни́ги но́вые. - The books are new.

Vocabulary
а - and, but
америка́нец - American person [male], plural: америка́нцы
америка́нка - American person [female]
бана́н - banana
быть - to be
большо́й - big
брат - brother
вода́ - water
во́дка - vodka
вот - here/there is
всё - everything, always
газ - gas
где - where?
год - year
го́род - city
да - yes
де́вочка - girl
день - day masculine
де́ти - children, plural of ребёнок
дог - Great Dane
друг - friend (male)
дя́дя - uncle
есть - to eat, present indicative of 'to be' быть
жёлтый - yellow
жена́ - wife
же́нщина - woman
звать - to call
зда́ние - building
имя - name neuter
как - how?
кита́ец - Chinese person [male], plural: кита́йцы
китая́нка - Chinese person [female]
кни́га - book
ко́мната - room
ко́фе - coffee masculine or neuter
краси́вый - beautiful, handsome
кто - who?
лев - lion
ма́льчик - boy
мать - mother feminine
маши́на - car
меню́ - menu
молоко́ - milk
мо́ре - sea
Москва́ - Moscow
мост - bridge
муж - husband
мужчи́на - man
нет - no
но́вый - new
нож - knife
норма́льно - normal adv
норма́льный - normal adj
ночь - night
оте́ц - father
о́чень - very
пи́сать - to pee
писа́ть - to write
пить - to drink
пло́хо - bad
подру́га - friend (female)
после́дний - last
по́яс - belt
пять - five
ребёнок - child, plural: де́ти
ру́сский - Russian
семь - seven
сестра - sister
соба́ка - dog
страна́ - country
та́кже - also
такси́ - taxi
твой - your
телеви́зор - television
телефо́н - telephone
тре́тий - third
уро́к - lesson
фо́рум - forum
хлеб - bread
хоро́ший - good adj
хорошо́ - good adv
царь - tsar
чай - tea
часы́ - to watch
чёрный - black
чита́ть - to read
что - what?
шокола́д - chocolate
щи́пчики - tweezers, masculine plural
зква́тор - equator
эконо́мика - economy
э́то - this/that/it is
ю́жный - south
я́блоко - apple, plural: я́блоки
язы́к - language
яйцо́ - egg

Exercises
Exercise 1: Translate the following sentences into English.
Где ваша сестра?
У тебя есть собака?
Вот мой брат.
Моя жена красивая.
Я не русский.

Exercise 2: Translate the following sentences into Russian.
Where is the milk?
He has a brother.
The coffee is black.
They are Russian.

Extras: Feel free to try out these extra exercises, just for fun.
-What is "Уроки русского" in English.
-How do you pronounce "русского"?
-What kind of rule is shown in "Уроки русского"? Please explain.
-What is the feminine form of the adjective "третий 'third'"?
-Provide a simple conversation between two people using Russian names.

Conclusion
Quite a big lesson. Hope you enjoyed it! Let me know if something should be explained better. For the next lesson, we will definitely cover some basic verbs and the plural forms of nouns. We'll probably also dive into the accusative case. I'll try to get it whipped up and posted within the next few days.

УРОК 3
Introduction
This lesson is fairly large - and we cover a lot of ground! We will begin with answers to the last lesson's exercises, and then we'll take a look at this lesson's dialog. After that: it's plural nouns, the accusative case (along with pronouns and adjectives), some information on present tense verbs, and then we cover "свой" and "один"! I hope you enjoy this lesson!

Answers to the previous lesson's exercises
Here are the answers to lesson 2's exercises:
Exercise 1: Translate the following sentences into English.

Exercise 2: Translate the following sentences into Russian.

Extras: Feel free to try out these extra exercises, just for fun.


Lesson 3 - Dialog
I thought I would start introducing some dialog at the beginning of every lesson. I will try to have it reflect what we will be learning in the lesson. But we will also learn some more important phrases in this lesson's dialog.
Dialogs will not show the stress marks unless the words are new.

-Здравствуйте!
-----Hello!
-Рад Вас ви́деть!
-----It's nice to see you!
-Я то́же ра́да Вас видеть!
-----It's nice to see you too!
-Как у Вас дела?
-----How are you doing?
-Отли́чно! А у Вас?
-----Excellent! And you?
-Спасибо, хорошо.
-----Good, thank you.
-Куда́ Вы идёте?
-----Where are you going?
-Я иду́ в гости́ницу. Куда Вы идёте?
-----I'm going to the hotel. Where are you going?
-Я иду в кафе́.
-----I'm going to the cafe.

Some additional info on this dialog:
-Remember that Вы (and its other forms) is used for plural second person or singular second person formal, while Ты (and its other forms) is used for singular second person informal.
-рад should be said by a male speaker and ра́да should be said by a female speaker.
-куда́? translates to "where to?"
-иду́ and идёте are conjugated forms of the verb и́дти "to go (by foot)".
-кафе́ "café" is indeclinable.

Plural nouns
Masculine & Feminine nouns:
The basic plural ending for both masculine and feminine nouns is -ы. But we've got make sure that we remember our spelling rules! For masculine nouns, simply tack on -ы, but for feminine nouns - you've got to remove the -а.
мост > мосты́ "bridges"
ма́льчик > ма́льчики "boys"
же́нщина > же́нщины "women"
кни́га > кни́ги "books"

Also, if the masculine noun ends in "й" or "ь" - replace with "и". And if a feminine noun ends in "ь" or "я" replace with "и".
рубль > рубли́ "rubles"

Neuter nouns:
With neuter nouns, replace "о" with "а" and replace "е" with "я". You also usually switch stress.
окно́ > о́кна "windows"
ме́сто > места́ "places"

Irregular plurals:
Like many languages, Russian also has some irregular plural forms. Here are some common ones:
дом > дома́ "homes"
брат > бра́тья "brothers"
го́род > города́ "towns"
друг > друзья́ "friends"
сын > сыновья́ "sons"
мать > ма́тери "mothers"
дочь > до́чери "daughters"

If you're unsure on a word - check a dictionary! Any dictionary you get should show nouns with irregular plurals. You can also use Wiktionary.

Some examples with adjectives:
We learned about plural adjective endings in the previous lesson, let's see some more examples and review what we learned!

-ый>-ые: но́вые "new"
-ий>-ие: ру́сские "Russian"
-ой>-ие: больши́е "big"

And remember: -ый = standard adjective ending; -ий = ending when spelling rules make it so; -ой = ending when the first syllable of the adjective ending is stressed (last syllable in Nominative singular form)!

У меня́ есть но́вая кни́га. - 'I have a new book.'
У меня́ есть но́вые кни́ги. - 'I have new books.'
У меня́ есть ру́сский друг. - 'I have a Russian friend.'
У меня́ есть ру́сские друзья́. - 'I have Russian friends.'
У меня́ есть больша́я соба́ка. - 'I have a big dog.'
У меня́ есть больши́е соба́ки. - 'I have big dogs.'

And for reviewing what we have learned...You should be able to remember the regular masculine and feminine endings...It's too simple: и or ы...Remember your spelling rules! I like to check dictionaries with all neuter words that I learn and make sure that they switch stress.

The Accusative pronouns
Remember that the accusative pronouns are the same as the genitive ones (shown above).

я - меня́ [mʲɪˈnʲa]
ты - тебя́ [tʲɪˈbʲa]
он/оно́ - его́ [jɪˈvo] (remember that г is pronounced like в)
она́ - её [jɪˈjo]
мы - нас [nas]
Вы - Вас [vas]
они́ - их [ix]

The Accusative case
The idea of the accusative case probably isn't anything new for most of you. It is used for the direct object of the sentence (I love you.). It is also used after в and на when indicating motion towards something. Furthermore, it is used with time in expressing duration and/or frequency and with the prepositions че́рез 'through, across' and за 'for'.

Forming the accusative case is almost too easy. But we are introduced to something new when we form the accusative case: animacy.
Before we get started, know that: animate nouns are nouns that are "living"; inanimate nouns are nouns that are "not living".

Masculine nouns:
-If the noun is inanimate - it does not change from the Nominative.
-If the noun is animate:
--If it ends in a consonant; add -а.
--If it ends in "й" or "ь"; replace with -я.

хлеб "bread, inanimate" > хлеб
ма́льчик "boy, animate" > ма́льчика
чай "tea, inanimate" > чай
Дми́трий "Dmitriy, animate" > Дми́трия
рубль "ruble, inanimate" > рубль
И́горь "Igor, animate" > И́горя

Animate = change;
Inanimate = no change.

Feminine nouns:
-If it ends in "а"; replace with -у.
-If it ends in "я"; replace with -ю.
-If it ends in "ь" - it does not change from the Nominative.
*Treat masculine nouns ending in "а" or "я" as feminine-declined. (As mentioned in the previous lesson)

де́вушка "girl" > де́вушку
де́вочка "girl" > де́вочку
мужчи́на "man" > мужчи́ну
дя́дя "uncle" > дя́дю

Neuter nouns:
-Do not change! (Including nouns like "имя, 'name'")

письмо́ "letter" > письмо́

Here are some examples of the Accusative in use:
Я ви́жу тебя́. - 'I see you.'
Я люблю́ э́ту же́нщину. - 'I love this woman.'
Я е́ду в Москву́. - 'I'm travelling to Moscow.'
Спаси́бо за соба́ку. - 'Thank you for the dog.'

Accusative adjectives
Since we have learned about the Accusative case - we might as well learn how adjectives change when they are in the accusative case. You will use adjectives in the accusative case quite often, for example in saying things such as "I love this beautiful woman", "I love good music", and "I love my dog".

There is one big thing with accusative adjectives: If the noun doesn't change - the adjective doesn't change!

Я зна́ю англи́йский язы́к. - 'I know the English language.'
Я люблю́ зи́мние дни! - 'I love winter days!'

Also, masculine nouns ending in "а" or "я" take masculine adjectives!

Masculine "animate" nouns:
SINGULAR:
-add -ого (with г pronounced as в) to the adjective stem.
-soft stemmed adjectives (последний) and where spelling rules require: add -его

Она́ лю́бит того́ ру́сского ма́льчика. - 'She loves that Russian boy.'

Feminine nouns:
-change -ая to -ую
-change -яя to -юю

Я люблю́ э́ту краси́вую же́нщину. - 'I love this beautiful woman.'
Я люблю́ хоро́шую му́зыку. - 'I love good music.'

Neuter nouns:
-Do not change! Singular nouns = singular nominative adjectives. Plural nouns = plural nominative adjectives.

Plural nouns?
I will discuss plural accusative adjective forms (and plural accusative nouns) in the next lesson! We need to learn about the Genitive case before we learn this!

Verbs
We will discuss verbs in this section! You should be aware that there are two aspects in Russian: imperfective and perfective. These aspects are simple to explain: imperfective = ongoing, not completed and perfective = completed.
Russian perfective verbs usually have prefixes such as "по" or "на" (писа́ть > написа́ть "to write")- however, you should make sure you check the dictionary for a verb's prefective counterpart! Some verbs often change altogether (говори́ть > сказа́ть "to speak, talk").
The tense we will discuss today is the present imperfective tense or future perfective tense. Meaning: present for imperfective verbs; future for perfective verbs. The endings that verbs take in this tense are often known as "present-future" endings or P/F endings.

There are two conjugation types: 1st conjugation and 2nd conjugation. The infinitive form doesn't always indicate which type a verb belongs to, so you should memorize the first and second-person singular forms (often given in dictionaries) for the new verbs that you learn!

*In all examples below, он represents all third person singular pronouns: он, она, оно.

Here are the endings for the two conjugation types. We will discuss more further below.
First conjugation endings:
я -у/-ю (1st person singular)
ты -ешь/-ёшь (2nd person singular informal)
он -ет/-ёт (3rd person singular)
мы -ем/-ём (1st person plural)
Вы -ете/-ёте (2nd person plural/2nd person singular formal)
они -ут/-ют (3rd person plural)

е becomes ё when endings are stressed.

Second conjugation endings:
я -ю
ты -ишь
он -ит
мы -им
Вы -ите
они -ят

1. First conjugation verbs will have infinitives ending in -ать or -ять.

-"чита́ть-type"/"Type 1" verbs; Most verbs whose infinitives end in -ать or -ять will be conjugated like чита́ть "to read".

чита́ть "to read"; stem = чита-
я чита́ю "I read"
ты чита́ешь "You read"
он чита́ет "He reads"

мы чита́ем "We read"
Вы чита́ете "You read"
они чита́ют "They read"

Other Type 1 verbs:
знать "to know"
игра́ть "to play"
понима́ть "to understand"

Она́ чита́ет кни́гу. - 'She's reading the book.'

-"писа́ть-type"/"Type 1B" verbs; These verbs' stems change! They also have -у or -ут for first singular and third person plural forms.

писа́ть "to write"; stem = пиш-
я пишу́ "I write"
ты пи́шешь "You write"
он пи́шет "He writes"

мы пи́шем "We write"
Вы пи́шете "You write"
они́ пи́шут "They write"

*Note the shifted stress.

Other Type 1B verbs:
е́хать "to go (by transport)", stem: е́д-
жить "to live", stem: жив-
сказа́ть "to speak perf.", stem: скаж-

*For the verbs above, ехать keeps stress on the first syllable. жить keeps stress on the final syllable. сказать switches stress exactly like писать.

Я пишу́ письмо́. - 'I'm writing a letter.'
Я напишу́ тебе́ письмо́. - 'I will write/will have written you a letter.' (perfective, finish it)
Я бу́ду писа́ть тебе́ письмо́. - 'I will write/be writing you a letter.' (imperfective, be doing it)

2. Second conjugation verbs will have infinitives ending in -ить.

говори́ть "to speak, talk"; stem = говор-
я говорю́ "I speak"
ты говори́шь "You speak"
он говори́т "He speaks"

мы говори́м "We speak"
Вы говори́те "You speak"
они́ говоря́т "They speak"

Я говорю́ по-ру́сский. - 'I speak Russian.'

A final thought on verbs
Research a verb before you use it! Just to be on the safe side! I also recommend buying "The Big Silver Book of Russian Verbs" by Jack Franke. You can get it for about 10 bucks at Amazon, and has 555 full conjugated verbs with an index of 2,000 verbs. Furthermore, it gives you information on Russian verbs that you might have trouble with finding anywhere online - along with those darned Russian verbs of motion (which we might cover in these lessons - sometime in the future).
We will learn more about other tenses in future lessons. We will also discuss aspect more in future lessons, but it's not that difficult. Imperfective = not done; perfective = done.

Some additional verbs to know
The following verbs are irregular to some degree, but very important to know! They are хоте́ть "to want", есть "to eat", and пить "to drink".

хоте́ть 'to want'
я хочу́
ты хо́чешь
он хо́чет
мы хо́тим
Вы хоти́те
они́ хотя́т

есть 'to eat'
я ем
ты ешь
он ест
мы еди́м
Вы еди́те
они́ едя́т

пить 'to drink'
я пью
ты пьёшь
он пьёт
мы пьём
Вы пьёте
они́ пьют

Now we can form some sentences!

Я пью во́дку. - 'I drink vodka.'
Я ем бутербро́д. - 'I'm eating a sandwich.'
Я хочу́ есть. - 'I want to eat. / I'm hungry.'
Я хочу́ пить. - 'I want to drink. / I'm thirsty.'

Accusative forms of possessive adjectives

Pronoun (nominative form) - Masculine - Feminine - Neuter - Plural
мой = мой, моего́ - мою́ - моё - мои́, мои́х
твой = твой, твоего́ - твою́ - твоё - твои́, твои́х
его́ = его́
её = её
наш = наш, на́шего - на́шу - на́ше - на́ши, на́ших
ваш = ваш, ва́шего - ва́шу - ва́ше - ва́ши, ва́ших
их = их

Я люблю́ мою́ соба́ку. - 'I love my dog.'

СВОЙ "one's own"
Свой is a very important possessive adjective. It translates to "one's, my, his, her, its, our, your, their" and always refers to the subject of the sentence. It usually replaces "его", "её", and "их" - and is optional to replace "мой", "наш", and "ваш".свой is preferred over "твой" when the subject is ты.

свой changes just like "мой". Here are the Nominative forms and Accusative forms.

Case - Masculine - Feminine - Neuter - Plural
NOM - свой - своя́ - своё - свои́
ACC - свой, своего́ - свою́ - своё - свои́, свои́х

Он лю́бит свою́ сестру́. - 'He loves his (own) sister.'
Он лю́бит его́ сестру́. - 'He loves his (someone else's) sister.'
Она́ лю́бит своего́ бра́та. - 'She loves her (own) brother.'
Она́ лю́бит её бра́та. - 'She loves her (someone else's) brother.'

ОДИН "one"
I have kept numbers off for a reason. In this lesson, we will study the number оди́н "one" and its nominative and accusative forms. In the next lesson we will cover the other numbers.

Before we start: do not confuse один with раз, which means "one" when counting off (раз, два, три!)

Один declines like an adjective - and luckily for you, its the only number to do so (except for, два "two", which declines, but to a lesser degree...next lesson!)

Case - Masculine - Feminine - Neuter
NOM = оди́н - одна́ - одно́
ACC = оди́н, одного́ - одну́ - одно́

Surprisingly, there are plural forms of "один", but they do not translate to "one" so we best not discuss them in this lesson.

оди́н ма́льчик = one boy
одна́ де́вочка = one girl
одно́ я́блоко = one apple

Она́ лю́бит одиого́ мужчи́ну. - 'She loves one man.'
Он лю́бит одну́ де́душку. - 'He loves one girl.'
Я люблю́ одну́ же́нщину. - 'I love one woman.'

Vocabulary
Аме́рика - America
аэропорт - airport
бутербро́д - sandwich
ви́деть - to see; (singular: ви́жу, ви́дишь, ви́дит; plural: ви́дим, ви́дите, ви́дят)
говори́ть - to speak; (1st singular: говорю́; 2nd singular: говори́шь)
гости́ница - hotel
де́вушка - girl, young woman (teenager, older than девочка)
день - day, plural: дни
дочь - daughter, plural: до́чери
друг - friend, masculine, plural: друзья́
есть - to eat; (singular: ем, ешь, ест; plural: еди́м, еди́те, едя́т)
е́хать - to go (by transport); (1st singular: е́ду; 2nd singular: е́дешь)
жить - to live; (1st singular: живу́; 2nd singular: живёшь)
за - for prep
зи́мний - winter, wintry
знать - to know; (1st singular: зна́ю; 2nd singular: зна́ешь)
игра́ть - to play; (1st singular: игра́ю; 2nd singular: игра́ешь)
идти́ - to go (by foot); (1st singular: иду́; 2nd singular: идёшь)
кафе́ - cafe, indeclinable
куда́? - where to?
люби́ть - to love, like; (1st singular: люблю́; 2nd singular: лю́бишь)
ма́ленький - small, little
мать - mother, plural: ма́тери
ме́сто - place
молодо́й - young
му́зыка - music
окно́ - window
отли́чно - excellent
писа́ть - to write; (1st singular: пишу́; 2nd singular: пи́шешь)
письмо́ - letter
пить - to drink; (singular: пью, пьёшь, пьёт; plural: пьём, пьёте, пьют)
понима́ть - to understand; (1st singular: понима́ю; 2nd singular: понима́ешь)
рад - glad adj, short form only. Feminine: ра́да
Росси́я - Russia
рубль - ruble, masculine
ста́рый - old
сын - son, plural: сыновья́
США - USA; Соединённые Шта́ты Аме́рики - United States of America
то́же - also
хоте́ть - to want; (singular: хочу́, хо́чешь, хо́чет; plural: хо́тим, хоти́те, хотя́т)
че́рез - through, across prep
чита́ть - to read; (1st singular: чита́ю; 2nd singular: чита́ешь)

Exercises
Exercise 1: Translate the following sentences into English.
-Куда ты идёшь?
-Я еду в Москву.
-Я люблю Америку.
-Я тебя люблю!
-Он любит свою жену.

Exercise 2: Translate the following sentences into Russian.
-Where are you traveling to? (informal)
-I'm traveling to Russia.
-I'm traveling to the airport.
-The girl is going (by foot) to the hotel.
-I see you! (informal)

Exercise 3: Provide the accusative singular forms of the following adjectives. Give me only the masculine animate and feminine forms.
Sample: новый = нового - новую
-большой
-красивый
-маленький
-молодой
-последний
-русский
-старый
-хороший

Conclusion
In the next lesson, we will definitely learn about the other numbers as well as the genitive singular and genitive plural. We will then learn about the accusative plural forms (same as the genitive plural) and learn a little more about how to say where you are, where you are going, and where you have been. That means the Prepositional case! Furthermore, we'll learn a little more about adjectives. I'm planning a giant "review lesson" for lesson 5!
Thanks for reading, and please let me know if something needs additional explaining.

Glad there's another update. I'll have to go over this again later since I keep getting interrupted.

_________________

Oh thanks for this thread. I'll try to follkow closely.

_________________
L1:
Fluent (on a good day):
Written:
Beginner:
Working on: ~ Eil

REVIEW - Lessons 1-3
Introduction
I had planned on doing this review later...but since we have already learned so much, I felt that it might be time to review what we have learned and try to refresh everything.

Things you should know
-There are three very important spelling rules.
-Russian letters are different in handwritting than they are in their printed forms.
-Russians do not use a verb when expressing "to be" in the present, they simply say "X Y" instead of "X is Y". (Я мальчик. = I boy./I am a boy.)
-The only present tense form of быть "to be" is есть which means "exists/is". Used regularly to express possession (У меня есть собака. = I have a dog./By me is dog.)
-There are three noun genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter.
-Adjectives agree in gender, number, and case.
-Animate masculine nouns take Genitive endings when they are in the Accusative case.
-There are two aspects: imperfective and perfective

The Spelling Rules
The spelling rules are extremely important to remember. You shouldn't fret if you don't remember them after simply reading through them once. Write them down and try to drill them in your memory over time. Eventually, you will know them without thinking about it...For example, by now the word книгы might look strange and incorrect to you...if it does: you're absolutely right! It should be книги "books".
Here are the spelling rules:

1. Write и instead of ы after к г х ж ч ш щ
книги instead of книгы "books"
русский instead of русскый "Russian"

2. Write а and у instead of я and ю after ж ч ш щ
я пишу "I write"

3. Write unstressed е but stressed о after ж ч ш щ ц*
хорошее "good"
большое "big"

*To better simplify this: if an <о> should come after one of the consonants listed below - write <е> instead, unless the <о> is stressed!

I'm not going to go over the rules of combination. You should make sure that you get familiar with the hard vowels and their soft counterparts. You should also be aware that these combination rules might be found "broken" in some foreign words (Нью-Йорк "New York").

The basic words and phrases
As with any language, you need to make sure that you get familiar with some basic words and phrases. These should been learned right off in the beginning, and will give you a "feel" of the language.
I have relisted some basic words and phrases (and added some new ones), along with new dialogs - different from the first dialog I introduced in lesson 2. Please don't let this be your only resource for phrases and words, though. Make sure you check out the resource list above and learn things that might be more suitable for your needs.

On Ты and Вы
Remember that Вы is the formal, polite, and plural form of ты which is the singular, informal form - both translating to "you" in English. When you meet someone for the first time, I think it might be best to use "Вы" unless you are addressing a child or maybe if you are a young teenager addressing another young person.

это = this/that/it is (not to be confused with этот)
вот = here/there is
что = what?
кто = who?
где = where?

-Что это? = What is this?
-Это моя новая книга. = It's my new book.
-Где мои книги? = Where are my books?
-Вот твои книги. = Here are your books.

спасибо = thank you
простите = excuse me/I'm sorry
извините = excuse me/I'm sorry (Excuse me, where's the nearest cafe?)
пожалуйста = please/you're welcome
не за что = you're welcome/that's alright/no problem

-Скажи́те, пожалуйста, где кафе? = Tell me, please, where's the cafe?
-Вот оно. = There it is.
-Большое спасибо! = Thank you very much!
-Пожалуйста. = You're welcome.

Здравствуйте = Hello (you can also use "Здравствуй" for someone you're familiar with)
Привет = Hi (informal)
Доброе утро = Good morning
Добрый день = Good afternoon
Добрый вечер = Good evening
Спокойной ночи = Good night

До свидания = Good-bye
Пока = Bye (informal)

Приятно познакомиться = Pleased to meet you
Очень приятно = Pleased to meet you (lit. "very pleasant")
Взаи́мно = Likewise, me too

Как (у тебя/у Вас) дела? = How are you? (remember тебя - Вас differences (ты-Вы))
Очень хорошо = Very good!
(Не)плохо = (Not) bad!

Как (тебя/Вас) зовут? = What's your name?
Меня зовут... = My name is...

-Здравствуйте! = Hello!
-Здравствуйте! Как Вас зовут? = Hello! What is your name?
-Меня зовут Михаил. А Вы? = My name is Mikhail. And you?
-Меня зовут Александр. = My name is Alexander.
-Очень приятно. = Nice to meet you.
-Взаимно. = Likewise.

Identifying gender
You should remember the basic endings that all nouns have and be able to roughly classify them into specific genders. Remember that there are exceptions, though, as with many languages. Some masculine nouns end in -а/-я and nouns ending in -ь may be masculine or feminine.

-consonant/-й = masculine gender (чай "tea")
-а/-я = feminine gender, with some exceptions* (девочка "girl", мужчина* "man" m., имя* "name" n.)
-о/-е = neuter gender (окно "window")
-ь = masculine or feminine gender (день "day" m., мать "mother" f.)

-и/-у/-ю = foreign borrowed, indeclinable and neuter (такси "taxi")

*It is extremely important to remember that masculine nouns ending in -а/-я still take masculine adjective agreement!

Nominative plural
Forming the nominative plural forms of nouns is quite easy when you study the rules. You've got to remember that there are some irregular plurals though - with some very common nouns. Sometimes even though I believe I have the plural form correct, I like to check a dictionary or online to make sure it isn't irregular.

Masculine & Feminine nouns
-ы or -и (spelling rules)
мальчик - мальчики "boys" (not: мальчикы)
женщина - женщины "women"
рубль - рубли "rubles" (not: рубльы)

Neuter nouns
о becomes а
е becomes я
-stress is usually switched
окно - окна "windows"

Expressing possession
You should know how to express possession. You may remember you can use у + genitive pronoun of owner + есть + owned object. You may also use possessive adjectives. Remember that the genitive pronouns are the same as accusative ones! These genitive pronouns also should never be confused with possessive adjectives.

У меня есть собака. = I have a dog.
Вот моя собака. = Here is my dog.

Adjectives
Adjectives are extremely important to get the hang of. You've got to drill the different case endings and gender endings into your memory. Always remember your spelling rules and the basic endings and you should do fine!

Adjectives agree in case, number, and gender with the nouns they describe.

Remember:
-ый = standard and most common adjective ending (новый "new")
-ий = ending for soft consonants or when spelling rules say its so (русский "Russian")
-ой = ending when the last syllable is stressed (большой "big")

Here are the adjective endings for the three genders and plural number in the Nominative case.

Masculine: ый, ий, ой
Feminine: ая, яя*
Neuter: ое, ее*
Plural: ые, ие

*Soft stemmed adjectives or when spelling rules make it so (хороший > хорошее)

новый - новая - новое - новые "new"
последний - последняя - последнее - последние "last"
русский - русская - русское - русские "Russian"
большой - большая - большое - большие "big"

In the accusative case, remember:
Masculine: ого, его (for soft-stemmed adjectives and spelling rules)
Feminine: ую, юю
Neuter: same as Nominative

новый, нового - новую - новое - новые, новых "new"
последний, последнего - последнюю - последнее - последние, последних "last"
русский, русского - русскую - русское - русские, русских "Russian"
большой, большого - большую - большое - большие, больших "big"

Accusative singular
Masculine nouns
-remember that if a masculine noun is inanimate it takes no change!
-if the noun is animate, it takes genitive singular endings: -а/-я
мальчик - мальчика "boy"
Игорь - Игоря "Igor"

*treat masculine nouns ending in -а/-я as feminine-declined (see below)

Feminine nouns
-а/-я become -у/-ю
-ь doesn't change
девочка - девочку "girl"
дядя - дядю "uncle"*

Neuter nouns
-do not change

Accusative plural
Accusative plural forms basically take the same rules as the accusative singular, but I thought it would be best to leave them alone until I discuss the Genitive case.
Animate masculine plural nouns take genitive plural endings, just like animate masculine singular nouns take genitive singular endings. As you might have expected inanimate masculine plural nouns take their nominative plural endings, just like inanimate masculine singular nouns take their nominative singular endings!

I promise to cover plural nouns in the Accusative case in the next lesson!

Verbs
I'm just going to refresh the endings for the two conjugation types. We will dive a little deeper into verbs in future lessons. Verbs always tend to be an interesting trek for any new language I learn, and Russian is not an exception! A lot of practice helps, though.

First conjugation endings:
я -у/ю
ты -ешь/ёшь
он -ет/ёт
мы -ем/ём
Вы -ете/ёте
они -ут/ют

Second conjugation endings:
я -ю
ты -ишь
он -ит
мы -им
Вы -ите
они -ят

Select vocabulary
Here is some select vocabulary words from the first three lessons. These are the words that I have found to be the "most important" out of all that I provided. Maybe you know them all already! If so, that's very good!

Аме́рика - America
аэропо́рт - airport
быть - to be
большой - big
брат - brother, plural: бра́тья
бутербро́д - sandwich
ви́деть - to see
вода́ - water
во́дка - vodka
всё - everything, always
говори́ть - to speak
го́род - city, plural: города́
гости́ница - hotel
де́вочка - girl
де́вушка - girl (older than девочка, teenager, young woman)
дочь - daughter, plural: до́чери
друг - friend (male), plural: друзья́
есть - to eat
есть - present indicative of быть
е́хать - to go (by transport)
жёлтый - yellow
жена́ - wife
женщи́на - woman
жить - to live
звать - to call
зда́ние - building
знать - to know
игра́ть - to play
идти́ - to go (by foot)
и́мя - name n.
кафе́ - cafe, indeclinable
кни́га - book
ко́мната - room
ко́фе - coffee m. or n. "extremely important :P"
краси́вый - beautiful, handsome
люби́ть - to love, like
ма́ленький - small, little
ма́льчик - boy
мать - mother, plural: ма́тери
маши́на - car
молодой - young
молоко́ - milk (something I need to drink more of...)
мо́ре - sea
Москва́ - Moscow
муж - husband
мужчи́на - man
му́зыка - music
новый - new
норма́льно - normal adv.
ночь - night
окно́ - window
оте́ц - father, plural: отцы́
отли́чно - excellent
о́чень - very
пи́сать - to pee
писа́ть - to write
пить - to drink
подру́га - friend (female)
понима́ть - to understand
после́дний - last
ребёнок - child, plural: де́ти
Росси́я - Russia
рубль - ruble
русский - Russian
РФ, Росси́йская Федера́ция - RF, Russian Federation
сестра́ - sister, plural: сёстры
соба́ка - dog
старый - old
страна́ - country
США, Соединённые Шта́ты Аме́рики - USA, United States of America
та́кже - also
такси́ - taxi
телеви́зор - television
телефо́н - telephone
то́же - also
хлеб - bread
хоро́ший - good
хорошо́ - good adv
хоте́ть - to want
царь - tsar
чай - tea
чёрный - black
чита́ть - to read
я́блоко - apple, plural: я́блоки
язы́к - language
яйцо́

Conclusion
There it is, a review of Lessons 1-3. We have learned so much thus far and have paved the way for more difficult but important parts of the language. I promise to get you all familiar with the genitive case in the next lesson, which will unlock the accusative plural forms. The genitive is a whole lot of fun and I hope you all look forward to it!

УРОК 4
Introduction
We learn about the Genitive case in this lesson! This lesson solves the great mystery surrounding the plural for nouns in the Accusative case.

Answers to Lesson 3's exercises
Exercise 1: Translate the following sentences into English.


Exercise 2: Translate the following sentences into Russian.


Exercise 3: Provide the accusative singular forms of the following adjectives. Give me only the masculine animate and feminine forms.
Sample: новый = нового - новую


Lesson 4 - Dialog
This lesson's dialog deals with buying a nice Coke or Monster...two important beverages that have assisted humans for thousands of years. It's fairly simple, but it sums up what we will learn in this lesson - the genitive case! Our conversation includes three people: Михаил (А), Мария (Б), and the waiter (В).

В: Что Вы бу́дете?
А: Ско́лько сто́ит Кока-Ко́ла?
В: Со́рок пять (45) рубле́й.
А: Я бу́ду Кока-Ко́ла.
В: А Вы?
Б: Ско́лько сто́ит Монстр?
В: Во́семьдесят два (82) рубля́.
Б: Я буду Монстр.

C: What will you have?
A: How much does a Coke cost?
C: Forty-five (45) rubles.
A: I'll have a Coke.
C: And you?
B: How much does a Monster cost?
C: Eighty-two (82) rubles.
D: I'll have a Monster.

Notice how 45 rubles was 45 рублей and 82 rubles was 82 рубля? You will learn about this in this lesson!

The numbers 1-100
Since we're learning about the genitive case in this lesson - it's time to show you the numbers...which you have probably already looked up (and that's good). I don't think I have to say that numbers are important to know...Don't let a three or four-year-old Russian outsmart you - learn your numbers!

оди́н m. - одна́ f. - одно́ n. "one"
два m./n. - две f. "two"
три "three"
четы́ре "four"
пять "five"
шесть "six"
семь "seven"
восемь "eight"
де́вять "nine"
де́сять "ten"
оди́ннадцать "eleven"
двена́дцать "twelve"
трина́дцать "thirteen"
четы́рнадцать "fourteen"
пятна́дцать "fifteen"
шестна́дцать "sixteen"
семна́дцать "seventeen"
восемна́дцать "eighteen"
девятна́дцать "nineteen"
два́дцать "twenty"
два́дцать один/одна/одно "twenty-one"
два́дцать два/две "twenty-two"
два́дцать три "twenty-three"
три́дцать "thirty"
со́рок "forty"
пятьдеся́т "fifty"
шестьдеся́т "sixty"
се́мьдесят "seventy"
во́семьдесят "eighty"
девяно́сто "ninety"
сто "one hundred"

Fleeting vowels
I almost forgot to mention fleeting vowels...I was going to cover it when we learned about nominative plurals, but we can learn about it now! Some masculine nouns that have the vowels о, е, or ё in their final syllable drop this vowel when their other endings are added. These are known as "fleeting vowels".

оте́ц > отцы́ "fathers"
америка́нец > америка́нцы "Americans"
день > дни "days"

The Genitive pronouns
We've already seen these before. Remember that the genitive pronouns are the same as the accusative ones.

я - меня́ [mʲɪˈnʲa]
ты - тебя́ [tʲɪˈbʲa]
он/оно́ - его́ [jɪˈvo] (remember that г is pronounced like в)
она́ - её [jɪˈjo]
мы - нас [nas]
Вы - Вас [vas]
они́ - их [ix]

The Genitive case
I'll cover the basics of the genitive case in this lesson. There are some parts that I have not covered here - which you might want to do some research on the "partitive genitive" forms which some masculine nouns have - alongside their regular genitive forms to express "some" of something.

The Genitive case is used...
1. with numbers and quantity;
три рубля́ "three rubles"
мно́го рубле́й "a lot of rubles"

The genitive singular should be used for the numbers 2 "два/две", 3 "три", and 4 "четы́ре", while the genitive plural should be used for numbers 5 "пять" and above.
два, три, четы́ре рубля́ "two, three, four rubles"
пять, шесть, семь рубле́й "five, six, seven rubles"

2. with possession and "of";
дом Михаи́ла "Mikhail's house"
центр го́рода "center of the city, downtown"

3. after some prepositions;
до свида́ния "Good-bye 'until meeting'"

4. with нет to express "there isn't"...the opposite of есть "there is";
Есть во́дка? - 'Is there vodka?'
Есть во́дка. - 'There's vodka.'
Нет во́дки. - 'There isn't vodka.'

Also used after У + genitive pronoun + нет... "X doesn't have" (and with all other pronouns):
У меня́ нет во́дки. - 'I don't have vodka.'
У неё нет соба́ки. - 'She doesn't have a dog.'

5. after negative transitive verbs
Она́ зна́ет англи́йский язык. - 'She knows English.'
Она не знает английского языка́. - 'She doesn't know English.'
Я чита́л кни́ги. - 'I read books.'
Я не чита́л книг. - 'I didn't read books.'

HOWEVER, you will often encounter objects after negative transitive verbs in the Accusative - especially in spoken, everday Russian. I do believe both forms are great, but there are some guidelines to follow:
-Use the genitive if the object is strongly negated.
Я не зна́ю ни одного́ сло́ва! - 'I don't know a single word!'

-Use the genitive if the object is abstract, something indefinite, or the это.
Я не ви́дел э́того. - 'I didn't see that.'
Я не вижу письма́. - 'I don't see a letter.'
Я не вижу собаки. - 'I don't see a dog.'

-Use the accusative if the object is definite.
Я не вижу письмо. - 'I don't see the letter.'
Я не вижу собаку. - 'I don't see the dog.'

Forming the Genitive singular
Forming the genitive singular is quite easy. You have already been exposed to the genitive singular when you learned about the accusative singular for masculine animate nouns.
When masculine animate nouns are in the accusative they take genitive endings for both singular and plural...but remember that masculine inanimate nouns simply take their normal, nominative endings!
The same goes for feminine nouns when it comes to the accusative plural! As long as they are animate they take genitive plural endings in the accusative plural...remember that this isn't the case for the feminine accusative singular! Don't worry - i'll review this in the next section.

Masculine and neuter nouns
Masculine and neuter nouns simply add -a or -я depending on their endings, again referring back to our spelling and combination rules - which are very important.
-, -о = add -а or replace -о with -а
друг - дру́га "of a friend"
письмо́ - письма́ "of a letter"

-ь, -й, -е = replace with -я
рубль - рубля "of a ruble"
музе́й - музе́я "of a museum"
свида́ние - свида́ния "of a meeting"

Feminine nouns
Feminine nouns simply add -ы or -и again depending on their endings, again referring back to our spelling and combination rules!
-а = replace with -ы
же́нщина - же́нщины "of a woman"
Москва́ - Москвы́ "of Moscow"
мужчи́на - мужчи́ны "of a man"

-я, -ь, -spelling rule consonant when -a is removed = replace with -и
дя́дя - дя́ди "of an uncle"*
дверь - две́ри "of a door"
кни́га - кни́ги "of a book"

*remember that these masculine nouns decline like feminine ones, but take masc. adjective agreement!

Forming the Genitive plural
The genitive plural is more complicated and you will probably have to read over this more than once to get everything understood. This is one of the main reasons why I didn't discuss the genitive plural in the previous lesson!

1. All nouns ending in -ь replace with -ей, which is also sometimes stressed.
рубль "ruble" - рубле́й "of rubles"
день "day" - дней "of days"
пло́щадь "square" - площаде́й "of squares"

2. Nouns ending in ж ч ш щ add -ей
врач "doctor" - враче́й "of doctors"

3. Most masculine nouns ending in a consonant add -ов or -ев depending on spelling rules.
язы́к "language" - языко́в "of languages"
америка́нец "American" - америка́нцев "of Americans"

4. Feminine nouns ending in -а and neuter nouns ending in -о simply lose those vowels and have a "zero ending."
у́лица "street" - у́лиц "of streets"
сло́во "word" - слов "of words"
же́нщина "woman" - же́нщин "of women"

An о or е may be added to break up strange consonant clusters that might occur.
окно́ "window" - о́кон "of windows"
письмо́ "letter" - пи́сем "of letters"
де́вочка "girl" - де́вочек "of girls"

5. All nouns ending in -ия or -ие replace -я or -е with -й
упражне́ние "exercise" - упражне́ний "of exercises"

6. Nouns ending in -й replace with -ев
музе́й "museum" - музе́ев "of museums"

7. Many nouns ending in -я replace with -ь - but if they end in -ня change to -ен
неде́ля "week" - неде́ль "of weeks"
пе́сня "song" - пе́сен "of songs"

8. Masculine nouns ending in unstressed -ья in the Nominative plural replace with -ьев
бра́тья "brothers" - бра́тьев "of brothers"

9. Masculine nouns ending in stressed -ья́ in the Nominative plural replace with -е́й
сыновья́ "sons" - сынове́й "of sons"

That's all I have! There are some additional rules that could be studied...but you can cover those in another lesson.

The Accusative Plural
By now you probably know, for singular nouns:
-Masculine animate: Genitive singular
мальчик - мальчика
-Masculine inanimate: Nominative singular
рубль -рубль
-Feminine: -у/-ю
девочка - девочку
-Neuter: Nominative singular
письмо - письмо

Я вижу письмо. - 'I see a letter.'
Я люблю эту женщину. - 'I love this woman.'
Спасибо за собака. - 'Thank you for the dog.'

And here are the rules for the plural nouns:
-Masculine animate: Genitive plural
мальчик - мальчиков
-Masculine inanimate: Nominative plural
рубль - рубли
-Feminine animate: Genitive plural
девочка - девочек
-Feminine inanimate: Nominative plural
двери - двери
-Neuter: Nominative plural
письма - письма

Я вижу письма. - 'I see letters.'
Я люблю этих женщин. - 'I love these women.'
Спасибо за собак. - 'Thank you for the dogs.'

The Genitive for adjectives
You might have not known it at the time - but you've already seen genitive adjective forms for the masculine! Remember that animate masculine nouns take genitive forms in the accusative, while inanimate masculine nouns take nominative forms! The endings we saw were -ого and -его. Welp, here they are again!

SINGULAR
Masculine and neuter nouns
-ого or -его (for soft-stemmed adjectives, or where spelling rules require)
русского "Russian"
последнего "last"
хорошего "good"
*remember to pronounce г as в

Feminine nouns
-ой or -ей (for soft-stemmed adjectives, or where spelling rules require)
русской "Russian"
последней "last"
хорошей "good"

PLURAL
All nouns simply add -ых or -их (when spelling rules require!)
новых
русских
последних
хороших
родных "native" from родно́й

Vocabulary
англи́йский - English
врач - doctor
дверь - door
Кока-Ко́ла - Coca-Cola, Coke
Монстр - Monster (energy drink)
музе́й - museum
пе́сня - song
родной - native
свида́ние - meeting
ско́лько - how many, how much?
сло́во - word
сто́ить - to cost
упражне́ние - exercise
центр - center

Conclusion
Welp - there it is. Lesson 4. I didn't do everything as promised (no Prepositional case), but we'll learn about that sometime. No more lessons for probably a week or so. No exercises this time either!

Giganormous lessons=difficult to comment on.

About the formal dialogue in the second lesson, you would never say Как поживаете? to a stranger. You would usually skip over "How are you?" and get right to introducing yourself after the hello. Pragmatics, pragmatics...




Russian conversations don't deteriorate that fast..



I think it'd be useful to point out that this mostly happens in words concerning men and male relatives.

Too much to read... more in-depth comments later.

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sup

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have some lessons

Тоже долгий; не читал.

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초보

Pirka can correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure it might be better to say: "Слишком долгий. Я не читал."
тоже is like "also", as in Я тоже рад тебя видеть "I'm glad to see you too."

It would be better to say: (Excuse me for the romanization; I'm on my phone)
Slíshkom mnógo; ya ne prochitál.
There's too much; I didn't read it.

Testyal, you may have wanted to say:
...; ya tózhe ne prochital.

The difference between prochitat' and chitat' is minute: if you use chitat', it suggests that you didn't read it whatsoever, whereas prochitat' suggests that you read some but didn't bother finishing.

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sup

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have some lessons

In other words, Imperfective vs. Perfective.

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초보

I suppose, but (im)perfective is too broad of a term to describe this, imo.
But I'm probably crazy, so yeah, I think you're right.

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sup

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have some lessons

Да! Ты безумный!

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초보

«безумный» is more on the lines of "unpredictable, insane, crazy good at sex, etc. etc." It would have made more sense to say «У тебя галлюцинации/глюки», which means "You're having hallucinations/glitches."

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sup

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have some lessons