- Identify noun gender
- Conjugate first-conjugation verbs
- Build simple sentences
Nouns and Verbs
Russian grammar is famously rich: 3 genders, 6 cases. But beginners can say a lot with nominative case + present tense — the cases come gradually.
Definition: Grammatical gender
Russian nouns are masculine, feminine or neuter — usually predictable from the ending: consonant → masculine (стол), -а/-я → feminine (книга), -о/-е → neuter (окно).
Key points
- Present tense, 1st conjugation (читать = to read): я читаю, ты читаешь, он читает, мы читаем, вы читаете, они читают.
- Word order is flexible — cases (later) show who did what.
- No present-tense ‘is’: Я студент = I [am a] student.
- Questions: intonation alone can question — Ты студент? (You’re a student?)
First sentences
Я читаю книгу. (I read a book.) Она говорит по-русски. (She speaks Russian.) Мы живём в Лондоне. (We live in London.)
Practice
What gender are стол, книга, окно?
Endings tell.
Стол (consonant) = masculine; книга (-а) = feminine; окно (-о) = neuter.
Conjugate делать (to do) for я, ты, они.
Like читать.
я делаю, ты делаешь, они делают.
Key takeaways
- Gender from endings: consonant/-а/-о.
- No ‘is’ in the present.
- 1st conjugation: -ю/-ешь/-ет/-ем/-ете/-ют.
- Start nominative; cases come later.