Russian Grammar Guide — Cases, Verbs & More
A practical Russian grammar reference: the six cases, verb conjugation and aspect, verbs of motion, word order, and common mistakes — with clear tables and examples.
What the guide covers — 22 sections, 147 topics
1. The mental model
- 1.1 Russian grammar is a network of relationships
- 1.2 Form and meaning should be learned together
- 1.3 Learn phrases, not isolated ingredients
- 1.4 Endings are signals, not the whole message
2. The basic shape of a Russian sentence
- 2.1 Neutral word order is usually subject–verb–object
- 2.2 The present-tense “to be” is normally absent
- 2.3 Russian has no articles
- 2.4 Agreement links words together
3. Nouns: gender, number, and animacy
- 3.1 Grammatical gender
- 3.2 Plural formation
- 3.3 Animacy
- 3.4 Indeclinable nouns
4. The case system
- 4.1 What cases do
- 4.2 A map of common noun endings
- 4.3 Spelling rules behind the endings
- 4.4 Nominative: the naming and subject case
- 4.5 Accusative: object and destination
- 4.6 Genitive: connection, source, absence, and quantity
- 4.7 Dative: recipient and experiencer
- 4.8 Instrumental: accompaniment, means, and role
- 4.9 Prepositional: topic and static location
- 4.10 Marginal locative and partitive forms
5. Adjectives and agreement
- 5.1 The agreement principle
- 5.2 Hard adjective endings
- 5.3 Soft adjective endings
- 5.4 Demonstratives and possessives behave like adjectives
- 5.5 Short adjectives
6. Pronouns
- 6.1 Personal pronouns
- 6.2 ты and вы
- 6.3 The reflexive pronoun себя
- 6.4 The possessive reflexive свой
- 6.5 Possessive pronouns
- 6.6 Interrogative and relative pronouns
- 6.7 Indefinite and negative pronouns
7. Verbs: conjugation and tense
- 7.1 The infinitive
- 7.2 Two main conjugations
- 7.3 Frequent irregular and stem-changing verbs
- 7.4 Present tense
- 7.5 Past tense
- 7.6 Future tense
8. Verbal aspect
- 8.1 Aspect is a choice of viewpoint
- 8.2 Common aspect pairs
- 8.3 When imperfective is natural
- 8.4 When perfective is natural
- 8.5 One situation, two viewpoints
- 8.6 Aspect in negation
- 8.7 Aspect and the imperative
- 8.8 Aspect is lexical
9. Imperatives, reflexive verbs, and modality
- 9.1 Forming the imperative
- 9.2 “Let’s” and third-person commands
- 9.3 Reflexive verbs in -ся / -сь
- 9.4 Ability: мочь and уметь
- 9.5 Necessity and permission
- 9.6 Wanting: хотеть and хотеться
10. Verbs of motion
- 10.1 Why motion verbs come in two imperfective types
- 10.2 One-directional motion
- 10.3 Multidirectional or return-trip motion
- 10.4 Mode of transport
- 10.5 The basic perfectives пойти and поехать
- 10.6 Prefixed motion verbs
- 10.7 Prefixes as spatial pictures
- 10.8 Motion-purpose constructions
11. Numbers, quantities, dates, and time
- 11.1 The core counting pattern
- 11.2 Gender in one and two
- 11.3 Animate accusative with low numbers
- 11.4 Numbers in other cases
- 11.5 Collective numerals
- 11.6 Predicate agreement after quantities
- 11.7 Age
- 11.8 Dates
- 11.9 Days, months, and seasons
- 11.10 Clock time
12. Sentence structure and word order
- 12.1 Flexible does not mean arbitrary
- 12.2 Neutral and marked orders
- 12.3 Subject pronouns are optional, not always omitted
- 12.4 New subjects and existential sentences
- 12.5 Possession with у + genitive
- 12.6 Predicate nouns and the instrumental
- 12.7 Impersonal sentences
- 12.8 Names, patronymics, and polite address
13. Comparison, adverbs, and short adjectives
- 13.1 Simple comparatives
- 13.2 Expressing “than”
- 13.3 Compound comparatives
- 13.4 Superlatives
- 13.5 Adverbs
- 13.6 по- adverbs
14. Participles and adverbial participles
- 14.1 What a participle does
- 14.2 Present active participles
- 14.3 Past active participles
- 14.4 Present passive participles
- 14.5 Past passive participles
- 14.6 Adverbial participles: a second action by the same subject
- 14.7 Passive alternatives
15. Negation, questions, and complex sentences
- 15.1 Basic negation with не
- 15.2 Multiple negation with ни- words
- 15.3 не versus ни
- 15.4 Yes/no questions
- 15.5 Question words
- 15.6 The particle ли
- 15.7 Statements with что
- 15.8 Wishes, requests, and purpose with чтобы
- 15.9 Conditions
- 15.10 Time clauses and aspect
- 15.11 Cause, result, and concession
16. High-value government patterns
- 16.1 Verbs with a direct accusative object
- 16.2 Verbs governing the genitive
- 16.3 Verbs governing the dative
- 16.4 Verbs governing the instrumental
- 16.5 Verbs with prepositional patterns
- 16.6 Verbs with two objects
- 16.7 Adjectives and nouns with government
17. Common particles and small words
- 17.1 уже and ещё
- 17.2 Focus changes meaning
- 17.3 Softening requests
18. Punctuation and capitalisation
- 18.1 Commas in complex sentences
- 18.2 Lists
- 18.3 The dash in nominal sentences
- 18.4 Quotation marks and dialogue
- 18.5 Capitalisation differences
- 18.6 ё
19. Common mistakes and how to rethink them
- 19.1 Treating cases as six English prepositions
- 19.2 Forgetting agreement outside the nominative
- 19.3 Using nominative after every number
- 19.4 Translating “have” word for word
- 19.5 Using есть in every present “is” sentence
- 19.6 Choosing aspect by English tense alone
- 19.7 Assuming every prefix merely makes a verb perfective
- 19.8 Confusing location and destination
- 19.9 Choosing идти or ехать from English “go” alone
- 19.10 Translating “can” with only one verb
- 19.11 Forgetting the subject of an adverbial participle
- 19.12 Expecting one-to-one word order
20. Compact reference tables
- 20.1 Six cases at a glance
- 20.2 Core movement triangle
- 20.3 Personal pronoun quick table
- 20.4 Tense and aspect grid
- 20.5 Aspect decision prompts
- 20.6 Basic adjective endings
- 20.7 Number phrases
- 20.8 High-frequency prepositions grouped by case
21. How to let grammar grow through exposure
- 21.1 Notice before you name
- 21.2 Collect contrast pairs
- 21.3 Read for one pattern at a time
- 21.4 Save whole sentences
- 21.5 Use “grammar echoes”
- 21.6 Expect understanding to lead production
- 21.7 A sustainable review loop