Eugenia Nekrasova
A Basic Modern Russian Grammar
THE GENITIVE OF COMPARISON
As an alternative to ÷åì + Nom. the Genitive is used to denote an object or a person of comparison:
Ìîé áðàò моложе меня.
My brother is younger than me. = Мой брат моложе, ÷åì ÿ.
THE GENITIVE OF SPECIAL DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERISTICS
The Genitive is used without any preposition to describe some characteristics of an object or a person: colour, model, size, dimension, age, brand etc.
E.g. Он купил Вольво последней модели.
He bought the latest Volvo model. (lit. a Volvo of the latest model).
Very often the Genitive descriptive combinations are used in questions:
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Asking about... |
Какого размера..? |
size |
Какой модели..? |
model, type |
Какой породы..? |
breed (of dogs, cats etc.) |
Какого роста..? |
height of a person |
Какой длины..? |
length |
Какой ширины..? |
width |
Какой высоты..? |
height |
Какой глубины..? |
depth |
Какого сорта..? |
brand, sort, type |
Какого качества..? |
quality |
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THE USE OF THE DATIVE CASE The Dative of Person
The primary meaning of the Dative Case is to denote a person for whom
an action is performed, for example:
Dat
Помогите мне. Help me.
The main verbs which take the Dative of Person are as follows:
говорить/сказать - to speak/say/tell
отвечать/ответить - to answer/reply рассказывать/рассказать - to tell
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звонить/позвонить - to call/phone |
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показывать/показать - to show |
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давать/дать - to give |
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The Case Usage
Eugenia Nekrasova
A Basic Modern Russian Grammar
отправлять/отправить - to send приносить/принести - to bring платить/заплатить - to pay помогать/помочь - to help
The Dative of Person can be used in formally impersonal senteces.
When Russians wish to specify the state of a person they use the Dative, for example:
Ìíå холодно. - I am cold. (lit. To me it is cold).
The Dative is used to denote age:
Ìíå 20 ëåò. - I am 20 years old.
The Dative is also used in formally impersonal sentences with a general meaning of necessity, possibility or obligation:
E.g. Ìíå íàäî позвонить. - I have to make a phone call.
(lit. It is necessary to me...)
also with надо, нужно - it is necessary, one has to...
можно - may, it is possible/permitted нельзя - it is not allowed, one must not
The Dative is used after prepositions.
Two common prepositions ê and ïî take the Dative Case.
ê - towards, to + verbs of motion
Приезжайте ê íàì в гости. Come to see us. Мы подъехали к Москве поздно вечером. We approached Moscow late in the evening.
ïî - by, along, about, according to, across, in
It is the vaguest of all Russian prepositions, see some examples:
ехать по Тверской - to go by Tverskaya (street)
экзамен по русскому языку - Russian exam (exam in/about Russian)
ездить по России - to travel about/around Russia по закону - according to the law
по утрам - in the mornings
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The Case Usage
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сказать - to say |
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Preposition ïî is also used with «communication» verbs to denote |
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показывать/показать - to show |
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смотреть/посмотреть - to watch, to see |
+ по телевизору |
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отправлять/отправить - to send |
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звонить/позвонить - to call phone |
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говорить /поговорить - to speak, to talk |
+ по телефону |
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посылать/послать - to send |
по почте |
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присылать/прислать - to send |
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получать/получить - to recieve |
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слышать/услышать - to hear |
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передавать/передать - to broadcast |
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сообщать/сообщить - to broadcast |
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выступать/выступить - to speak |
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THE USE OF THE ACCUSATIVE CASE
The Accusative can be used both with or without prepositions. The Accusative is used:
to denote an object of an action (without prepositions),
to denote a direction of an action (with prepositions),
with a number of prepositional verbs and combinations,
with preposition ïðî (about)
with a great number of time-expressions (both with or without prepositions).
The Accusative without prepositions is used after transitive verbs
to denote an object of an action (Direct object), for example:
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купил |
собаку. - I bought a dog. |
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action |
object |
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The Case Usage
Eugenia Nekrasova
A Basic Modern Russian Grammar
The Accusative is also used with the same model to denote cost, measure, distance:
Эта собака стоит тысячу долларов. The dog costs one thousand dollars. Мы проехали пять тысяч километров. We drove a thousand kilometers.
The Accusative is used to denote the direction of an action or a place of destination after prepositions â, íà, ïîä, через, çà, for example:
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åäó |
в Лондон. I am going to London. |
subject |
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object in Accusative |
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motion verbs |
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Some other examples include:
ß èäó на выставку.
I am going to the exhibition.
ßотправил ôàêñ в Лондон. I sent a fax to London.
Îí положил деньги â ñåéô. He put the money into the safe. Îí поступил в университет.
He was admitted to the university.
ßпозвонил в Париж.
I made a call to Paris.
Îí поставил коробку ïîä ñòîë. He put a box under the table.
Îí уехал работать за границу. He went to work abroad.
ß åäó з‚ город.
I am going to the countryside.
Îí выстрелил в полицейского. He shot a policeman.
Åãî ранили в колено.
He was wounded in his knee.
Part 6
The Case Usage
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Eugenia Nekrasova
A Basic Modern Russian Grammar
The Accusative is used after certain prepositional verbs:
заплатить за билет -to pay for the ticket верить â áîãà - to believe in God
продать за тысячу долларов - to sell for one thousand dollars наказать за преступление - to punish for a crime
голосовать çà «çåë¸íûõ» - to vote for the «Greens» тратить деньги на книги - to spent money on books ответить на вопрос - to answer a question влюбиться в соседа - to fall in love with a neighbour играть в футбол - to play football
постучать в дверь - to knock on the door
говорить через переводчика - to converse through an interpreter
The Accusative is also used in some combinations:
рецепт на антибиотик - prescription for antibiotics ðåéñ на Лондон - flight to London
билет на концерт - ticket for the concert ñ÷¸ò çà ìàé - bill for May
деньги на билет - money for the ticket
In everyday conversation the preposition ïðî (about) followed by the Accusative is used instead of î «about» followed by the
Prepositional:
рассказать про поездку - to tell about the trip
Some prepositional verbs with preposition íà are used to denote the date or the time for which something has been arranged:
Назначить встречу íà понедельник второе января. To arrange the meeting for January the second.
Other verbs which are used in the construction include:
заказать на - to order for
перенести на - to postpone to...
отложить на - to postpone to...
Part 6 |
page 88 |
The Case Usage
Eugenia Nekrasova
A Basic Modern Russian Grammar
The Accusative can be used in the following time-expressions:
with days of the week:
в понедельник - on Monday
во вторник - on Tuesday
âсреду - on Wednesday
âчетверг - on Thursday
âпятницу - on Friday
âсубботу - on Saturday
âвоскресенье - on Sunday
with festivals and public holidays:
в/на Новый год - at the New Year в/на Рождество - at Christmas на Пасху - at Easter
to denote a period of time:
ßáûë неделю в Испании. I spent a week in Spain.
ßåäó на неделю в Испанию. I am going to Spain for a week.
after «через» - in
ßåäó через неделю в Испанию. In a week I am going to Spain.
with «назад» - ago
ßездил в Испанию неделю назад. I went to Spain a week ago.
after «çà» - to denote the time taken to complete the action:
Мы доехали до города çà ÷àñ.
It took us an hour to get to the town.
to denote frequency of occurence:
раз в неделю - once a week раз в месяц - once a month ðàç â ãîä - once a year
Part 6
The Case Usage
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