- •To the Readers
- •Shortly About the Author
- •AGREEMENT BETWEEN WORDS IN RUSSIAN
- •HOW TO ESTABLISH THE GENDER OF A NOUN
- •THE GENDER OF SOFT SIGN NOUNS
- •REPLACING SINGULAR NOUNS BY PERSONAL PRONOUNS
- •HOW TO ESTABLISH THE GENDER OF PLACE NAMES
- •FOREIGN INDECLINABLE NOUNS AND THEIR GENDER AGREEMENT
- •THE GENDER AGREEMENT BETWEEN NOUNS AND ADJECTIVES
- •THE GENDER OF NOUNS DENOTING PROFESSIONS IN RUSSIAN
- •SINGULAR - ONLY NOUNS
- •FORMATION OF PLURAL NOUNS
- •PLURAL-ONLY NOUNS
- •PERSONAL PRONOUNS IN THE PLURAL
- •THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN NOUNS AND CHARACTERIZING WORDS IN THE PLURAL
- •THE PLURAL OF ADJECTIVES
- •MIXED PLURAL ADJECTIVAL ENDINGS
- •THE POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS IN THE PLURAL
- •THE DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS IN THE PLURAL
- •THE INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS IN THE PLURAL
- •THE PLURAL OF OTHER CHARACTERIZING WORDS - all, the whole
- •GENERAL OUTLINE OF THE CASE SYSTEM
- •THE DECLENSION OF MASCULINE NOUNS IN THE SINGULAR
- •THE ACCUSATIVE OF MASCULINE NOUNS IN THE SINGULAR
- •THE DECLENSION OF NEUTER NOUNS IN THE SINGULAR
- •THE DECLENSION OF FEMININE NOUNS IN THE SINGULAR
- •ADJECTIVAL TYPE OF DECLENSION IN RUSSIAN
- •THE DECLENSION OF MASCULINE AND NEUTER ADJECTIVES IN THE SINGULAR
- •THE DECLENSION OF THE FEMININE ADJECTIVES IN THE SINGULAR
- •THE GENITIVE PLURAL OF NOUNS
- •THE ACCUSATIVE PLURAL OF NOUNS
- •THE DATIVE, INSTRUMENTAL AND PREPOSITIONAL PLURAL OF NOUNS
- •THE DECLENSION OF THE HARD ENDING NOUNS IN THE PLURAL
- •THE DECLENSION OF THE SOFT ENDING NOUNS IN THE PLURAL
- •THE DECLENSION OF THE PLURAL ADJECTIVES AND ADJECTIVAL WORDS
- •THE DECLENSION OF THE DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS
- •THE DECLENSION OF RUSSIAN SURNAMES
- •THE DECLENSION OF RUSSIAN ADJECTIVAL SURNAMES
- •THE DECLENSION OF RUSSIAN PATRONIMICS
- •THE DECLENSION OF NON-RUSSIAN GEOGRAPHIC NAMES
- •PERSONAL PRONOUNS
- •THE DECLENSION OF THE PERSONAL PRONOUNS
- •THE DECLENSION AND THE USE OF THE INDEFINITE PRONOUNS
- •THE USE OF THE NOMINATIVE CASE
- •THE USE OF THE GENITIVE CASE
- •THE GENITIVE OF NEGATION / ABSENSE / EXCEPTION
- •THE GENITIVE OF POSSESSION
- •THE GENITIVE OF RELATION / DESCRIPTION
- •THE GENITIVE OF QUANTITY
- •THE GENITIVE OF TIME
- •THE GENITIVE OF PLACE
- •THE GENITIVE USED AFTER CERTAIN VERBS
- •THE GENITIVE OF COMPARISON
- •THE GENITIVE OF SPECIAL DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERISTICS
- •THE USE OF THE ACCUSATIVE CASE
- •THE USE OF THE INSTRUMENTAL CASE
- •THE USE OF THE PREPOSITIONAL CASE
- •THE SYSTEM OF THE RUSSIAN VERB
- •THE INFINITIVE AS A BASE FOR THE VERB FORMS
- •THE USE OF THE INFINITIVE IN RUSSIAN
- •THE ASPECT
- •THE ASPECT IN THE TENSE SYSTEM
- •THE PRESENT TENSE OF THE VERBS
- •THE IRREGULAR 1-ST CONJUGATION
- •THE IRREGULAR 2-ND CONJUGATION
- •IRREGULAR VERBS NOT FOLLOWING ANY PATTERN
- •THE PAST TENSE OF THE VERBS
- •FIRST GROUP, REGULAR PAST TENSE FORMATION
- •THE FUTURE TENSE OF THE VERBS
- •THE IMPERATIVE OF THE VERBS
- •MAIN TYPES OF PARTICIPLES
- •LONG PARTICIPLES AS ADJECTIVES AND NOUNS
- •USAGE (MEANING) OF THE ASPECTS
- •SOME FACTORS WHICH DETERMINE THE CHOICE OF AN ASPECT
- •A PRACTICAL TABLE OF MOST COMMON VERBS
- •MAIN USE OF THE REFLEXIVES
- •MODAL VERBS AND CONSTRUCTIONS
- •POSSESSIVE CONSTRUCTIONS
- •THE NEGATIVE OF THE POSSESSIVE CONSTRUCTION
- •RUSSIAN WORD ORDER
- •GENERAL REMARKS
- •BASIC FORMS OF NON-PREFIXED PAIR-VERBS OF «GOING»
- •THE GRAMMATICAL USAGE OF NON-PREFIXED «GOING» VERBS
- •UNIDIRECTIONAL VERBS
- •SOME COMMON PREFIXED VERBS OF MOTION
- •THE TENSE FORMS AND THE GENERAL MEANING OF THE ASPECT PAIRS OF MOST COMMON PREFIXED VERBS OF MOTION
- •COMMON ADVERBS OF MEASURE AND GRADE
- •ADVERBS OF TIME
- •ADVERBS OF PLACE AND DIRECTION
- •THE SUPERLATIVE DEGREE OF THE ADVERBS
- •THE COMPARATIVE DEGREE OF THE ADJECTIVES
- •THE SUPERLATIVE DEGREE OF THE ADJECTIVES
- •THE SHORT FORM OF THE ADJECTIVES
- •THE COMPOUND NEGATIVE
- •THE USE OF THE NEGATIVE PRONOUNS
- •THE USE OF THE NEGATIVE ADVERBS
- •THE IMPERSONAL CONSTRUCTIONS INVOLVING PEOPLE
- •THE IMPERSONAL CONSTRUCTIONS WITH THE GENITIVE OF PERSON
- •SEMI-IMPERSONAL CONSTRUCTIONS
- •THE CARDINALS
- •«HALVES»
- •THE ORDINAL NUMERALS
- •THE USE OF THE ORDINALS
- •NOUNS BASED ON NUMERALS
- •THE DOUBLE NUMERALS
- •THE INDEFINITE NUMERALS
- •THE COLLECTIVE NUMERALS
- •PREPOSITIONS
- •ADVERSATIVE CONJUNCTIONS
- •DISJUNCTIVE CONJUNCTIONS
- •MOST COMMON SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS
Eugenia Nekrasova
A Basic Modern Russian Grammar
Part 12 Impersonal Constructions
By «impersonal constructions» the Russians understand the sentences without any subject or without a subject expressed by the Nominative.
The impersonal constructions are used quite a lot in Modern Russian.
The impersonal constructions reflect the old thinking of the Russian folk who considered themselves to be a part of a collective or an object affected by fate, pagan gods or an external force. With time the group of affecting factors also included «the authorities».
The impersonal constructions present an important, vast and productive type of Russian grammatical constructions. They are used quite a lot in Russian literature, particularly poetry and songs.
The impersonal constructions may deal both with people and with natural phenomena.
THE IMPERSONAL CONSTRUCTIONS INVOLVING PEOPLE
In these constructions a person (people) may be presented by one of the three forms:
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by the Dative |
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by the Accusative |
by the Genitive |
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Dative of Person. |
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Constructions |
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The Detailed Description of the Impersonal Constructions with the |
Impersonal |
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The Dative of Person is used in constructions denoting age: |
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Ìíå 20 ëåò. I am 20 years old. |
Dative |
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lit. To me 20 years were given. |
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Part 12 |
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page 162 |
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Eugenia Nekrasova
A Basic Modern Russian Grammar
Constructions denoting the internal state of a person or feelings:
Ìíå холодно. - I am feeling cold. Ìíå жарко. - I am feeling hot. Ìíå плохо. - I am feeling bad.
Ìíå уже лучше. - I am feeling better. Ìíå страшно. - I am scared.
Ìíå больно. - It hurts. Ìíå нравится... - I like...
Ìíå хочется пить. - I feel thirsty. Ìíå не спится. - I do not feel sleepy. Ìíå кажется... - It seems to me...
Ìíå приснилось... - I had a dream...
Constructions denoting objective necessity :
Ìíå нужно |
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- I have to, I need |
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Ìíå íàäî |
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Ìíå пришлось - I had to
Constructions denoting permission (asking permission) or prohibition:
Ìíå можно взять? - May I take it?
Åìó нельзя бегать. - He is not allowed to jog.
Constructions with the verbs denoting chance, luck or succes:
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Ìíå очень повезло. - I was very lucky. |
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Åìó всегда вез¸т. - He is always lucky. |
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Constructions |
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Ìíå удалось... - I succeeded... |
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The verbs in the Present Tense are used in the third - person: h |
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Ему всегда âåç¸ò. - He is always lucky. |
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Notice! |
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In the Past Tense the verbs are used in the Neuter: |
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Åìó повезло. - He was lucky. |
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Constructions with нужно/надо, можно, нельзя |
Impersonal |
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could be used in different tense forms: |
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Present Tense |
Мне нужно |
I need, I have to |
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Future tense |
Мне нужно будет |
I will have to |
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Past Tense |
Мне нужно áûëî |
I had to |
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Part 12 |
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page 163 |
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Eugenia Nekrasova
A Basic Modern Russian Grammar
The impersonal constructions with the verbs taking the Dative («they» constructions):
Ìíå сказали, что - I was told, they told me Ìíå передали - I got (the message)
Ìíå подарили - I got it as a present
Ìíå купили велосипед - They bought me a bicycle Ìíå позвонили - I got a phone call
Ìíå показали - They showed me or I was shown Ìíå сделали операцию - I have been operated etc.
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In the Past Tense the verbs are used in the Plural: |
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Ìíå позвонили вечером. |
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- They called me in the evening. |
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In the Present Tense the third-person Plural is used:
Мне обычно звонят утром.
- They normally call me in the morning. Accusative= Genitive
The Detailed Description of the Impersonal Constructions with the Accusative of a Person. The Passive Constructions.
The Accusative of Person is used in the impersonal constructions with verbs taking the Accusative and in the sentences involving an external force or «the authority». Quite often these sentences deal with accidents or unpleasant situations:
Åãî уволили. - He was dismissed/fired. Åãî убили. - He was killed.
Åãî ранили. - He was wounded. Åãî арестовали. - He was arrested. Åãî оштрафовали. - He was fined. Åãî обманули. - He was cheated.
Åãî перевели. - He was transferred/moved.
Åãî положили в больницу. - He was taken to hospital.
Part 12 |
page 164 |
Impersonal Constructions
Eugenia Nekrasova
A Basic Modern Russian Grammar
Åãî ограбили. - He was robbed. Åãî перевели в другую часть. - He was transferred into another unit.
Åãî отравили. - He was poisoned. etc.
In the Past Tense the verbs are used in the Plural:
Åãî обманули. - He was cheated.
In the Present and Future tense the verbs are used |
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in the third-person Plural. |
Notice! |
Его всегда обманывают. - He is always cheated. |
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Here are some common Present Tense examples: |
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Âàñ (просят) к телефону. - You are wanted on the phone. Ìåíÿ æäóò. - Someone is (some people are) waiting for me. Êàê вас зовут? - What is your name? (lit.) How do they call you?
The Impersonal constructions with the Genitive of person
The impersonal constructions with the Genitive of Person can be of three types:
The negative constructions denoting absense of a person or a thing:
Åãî íåò. He is not availiable. |
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Åãî íå áûëî. He |
was not availiable. |
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Åãî не будет. He |
will not be availiable. |
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Óíåãî нет денег. He does not have money.
Óíåãî не было денег. He did not have money.
Óíåãî не будет денег. He will not have money.
The impersonal constructions denoting accidents:
Óìåíÿ украли паспорт. My passport has been stolen.
Óìåíÿ угнали машину. My car has been stolen.
The verb is always in the Plural form.
The Impersonal constructions expressing general statements:
Ó íàñ не курят. No smoking here.
The verb is always in the third-person Plural.
Part 12 |
page 165 |
Impersonal Constructions
Eugenia Nekrasova
A Basic Modern Russian Grammar
THE IMPERSONAL CONSTRUCTIONS DEALING
WITH NATURE OR OBJECTIVE REALITYThe subjectless sentence. The -o forms.
When describing natural phenomena, situations and objects the Russians normally use the impersonal subjectless sentences with the so-called -o forms, for example:
Сегодня холодно. - It is cold today. Òóò занято. - It is occupied here.
Окрашено. - Wet paint. (literaly It has been painted.) Поздно. - It is late. Åù¸ ðàíî. - It is still early. etc.
The «o» forms are the short adjectives like холоднûé холоднî or the Neuter form of the short perfective participles like занято, окрашено.
These sentences could be used with the following tense forms:
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Present Tense |
Сегодня холодно. - It is cold today. |
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Future Tense |
Завтра будет холодно. - It will be cold tomorrow. |
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Past Tense |
Вчера áûëî холодно. -It was cold yesterday. |
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THE IMPERSONAL CONSTRUCTIONS |
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DEALING BOTH WITH HUMAN STATES AND NATURE |
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(WITH THE ACCUSATIVE OF A PERSON OR AN OBJECT). |
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There is a limited group of impersonal sentences dealing both with people |
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and nature, where the Accusative is used. The verbs are in the third- |
Constructions |
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person Singular in the Present and Future, and in the Past |
the Neuter |
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form is used: |
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Зимой рано темнеет. - It`s getting dark early in the winter. |
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Óæå стемнело. - It has got dark already. |
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Åãî ударило током. - He got an electric shock. |
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Ìåíÿ тошнит. - I feel sick. |
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Ìåíÿ укачало. - I got sea-sick. |
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Âñ¸ залило водой. - Everything was flooded by water. |
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Дорогу занесло снегом. - The road was snow-bound. etc. |
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The natural phenomenon or the external force is in the Instrumental: |
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Вс¸ залило водой. - by water. |
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Дорогу занесло снегом. - by snow |
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Part 12 |
page 166 |
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