Russian Grammar

Russian grammar From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Russian grammar encompasses: •

a highly synthetic morphology

•

a syntax that, for the literary language, is the conscious fusion of three elements: •

a Church Slavonic inheritance;

•

a Western European style;

•

a polished vernacular foundation.

The Russian language has preserved an Indo-European synthetic-inflexional structure, although considerable levelling has taken place. The spoken language has been influenced by the literary, but continues to preserve characteristic forms. The dialects show various non-standard grammatical features, some of which are archaisms or descendants of old forms since discarded by the literary language. NOTE: In the discussion below, various terms are used in the meaning they have in the standard Russian discussions of historical grammar. In particular, aorist, imperfect, etc. are considered verbal tenses rather than aspects, because ancient examples of them are attested for both perfective and imperfective verbs.

Contents [hide] •

•

1 Nouns •

1.1 First declension - masculine nouns

•

1.2 Φιρστ δεχλενσιον − νευτερ νουνσ

•

1.3 Σεχονδ δεχλενσιον − φεµινινε νουνσ (πριµαριλψ)

•

1.4 Τηιρδ δεχλενσιον

2 Adjectives •

•

2.1 Declension

3 Pronouns •

3.1 Personal pronouns

•

3.2 ∆εµονστρατιϖε προνουνσ

•

3.3 Ποσσεσσιϖε προνουνσ

•

3.4 Ιντερρογατιϖε προνουνσ

•

4 Numbers

•

5 ςερβσ •

5.1 Present-future tense

•

5.2 Παστ τενσε

•

5.3 Εξαµπλεσ •

5.3.1 First conjugation

•

5.3.2 Σεχονδ χονϕυγατιον

•

5.3.3 Ιρρεγυλαρ ϖερβσ

•

6 Word formation

•

7 Σψνταξ •

7.1 Negation

•

7.2 Χοορδινατιον

[edit] Nouns Nominal declension is subject to six cases (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, prepositional, and instrumental), in two numbers (singular and plural), and obeying absolutely grammatical gender (masculine, feminine, and neuter). Up to ten additional cases are identified in linguistics textbooks,[1]HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_grammar" \l "cite_note-1"[2]HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_grammar" \l "cite_note-2"[3] although all of them are either incomplete (do not apply to all nouns) or degenerate (appear identical to one of the six simple cases). The most well-recognized additional cases are locative (в лесу, в крови, в слезах), partitive (сапог, чулок, вольт), and several forms of vocative (господи, деда, батянь). The adjectives, pronouns, and the first two cardinal numbers further vary by gender. Old Russian also had a third number, the dual, but except for its use in the nominative and accusative cases with the numbers two, three and four, eg. (два стула [dvɐ ˈstulə], "two chairs", recategorized today as a genitive singular), it has been lost. There are no definite or indefinite articles in the Russian language. The sense of a noun is determined from the context in which it appears. That said, there are some means of expressing whether a noun is definite or indefinite. They are: The use of a direct object in the genitive instead of the accusative in negation signifies that the noun is indefinite, compare: "Я не вижу книги" ("I don't see a book" or "I don't see any book") and "Я не вижу книгу" ("I don't see the book"). The use of the numeral one sometimes signifies that the noun is indefinite, e.g.: "Почему ты так долго?" - "Да так, встретил одного друга, пришлось поговорить" ("Why did it take you so long?" - "You see, I met a friend and had to talk"). Word order may also be used for this purpose, compare "В комнату вбежал мальчик" ("A boy rushed into the room") and "Мальчик вбежал в комнату" ("The boy rushed into the room"). The category of animacy is relevant in Russian nominal and adjectival declension. Specifically, the accusative form in many paradigms has two possible forms depending on the animacy of the referent. For animate referents (people and animals), the accusative form is identical to the genitive form. For inanimate referents, the accusative form is identical to the nominative form. This principle is relevant for masculine singular nouns of the first declension (see below) and adjectives, and for all plural paradigms (with no gender distinction). In the tables below, this behavior is indicated by the abbreviation "N or G" in the row corresponding to the accusative case. In Russian there are three declension types, named simply first, second, and third declensions. The first declension (the second in Russian school grammars) is used for masculine and most neuter nouns. The second declension (the first in school grammars) is

used for most feminine nouns. The third declension is used for feminine nouns ending in ь and for neuter nouns ending in мя.

[edit] First declension - masculine nouns Nouns ending in a consonant are marked in the following table with - (thus no ending). Sing ular

Plural

Nominative

-

-ь

-й

-ий

Accusative

N or G

Genitive

-а

-я

-я

-ия

Dative

-у

-ю

-ю

Prepositional

-е

-е

Instrumental

-ом -ем3

-ы1

-и

-и

-ии

-ов2

-ей

-ев3

-иев

-ию

-ам

-ям

-ям

-иям

-е

-ии

-ах

-ях

-ях

-иях

-ем3

-ием

-ами

-ями

-ями

-иями

N or G

Notes: After a sibilant (ж, ч, ш, or щ) or a velar (г, к, or х) consonant, и is written. After a sibilant, ей is written. After a soft consonant, ё is written when stressed; е when unstressed.

[edit] First declension - neuter nouns Singul ar

Plural

Nominative

-о1

-е2

-а

-я

Accusative

-о1

-е2

N or G

Genitive

-а

-я

-

-й / -ь4

Dative

-у

-ю

-ам

-ям

Prepositional

-е

-е3

-ах

-ях

Instrumental

-ом1

-ем2

-ами

-ями

After a sibilant, о is written when stressed; е when unstressed.

After a soft consonant, ё is written when stressed; е when unstressed. For nouns ending in ие in the nominative singular, и is written. After a consonant use ь otherwise use й.

[edit] Second declension - feminine nouns (primarily) Singul ar

Plural

Nominative

-а

-я

-ия

-ы1

-и

-ии

Accusative

-у

-ю

-ию

N1 or G

Genitive

-ы1

-и

-ии

-

-ь

-ий

Dative

-е

-е

-ии

-ам

-ям

-иям

Prepositional

-е

-е

-ии

-ах

-ях

-иях

Instrumental

-ой2

-ей3

-ией

-ами

-ями

-иями

After a sibilant or a velar (г, к, or х) consonant, и is written. After a sibilant, о is written when stressed; е when unstressed. After a soft consonant, ё is written when stressed; е when unstressed.

[edit] Third declension Singular

Plural

Feminine

Neuter

Feminine

Neuter

Nominative

-ь

-мя

-и

-мена

Accusative

-ь

-мя

N or G

-мена

Genitive

-и

-мени

-ей

-мён

Dative

-и

-мени

-ям

-менам

Prepositional

-и

-мени

-ях

-менах

Instrumental

-ью

-менем

-ями

-менами

[edit] Adjectives Russian adjectives agree with the nouns they modify in gender, number, and case.

[edit] Declension Singular

Plural

Masculine

Feminine

Neuter

Nominative

-ый

-ая

-ое

-ые

Accusative

N or G

-ую

-ое

N or G

Genitive

-ого

-ой

-ого

-ых

Dative

-ому

-ой

-ому

-ым

Prepositional

-ом

-ой

-ом

-ых

Instrumental

-ым

-ой

-ым

-ыми

After a sibilant or velar consonant, и, instead of ы, is written. When a masculine adjectives ends in -ой, the -ой is stressed Russian differentiates between hard-stem (as above) and soft-stem adjectives. Note the following: •

Masculine adjectives ending in the nominative in ий and neuters in ее are declined as follows: его, ему, им, and ем.

•

Feminine adjectives in яя are declined ей and юю.

•

Plural adjectives in ие are declined их, им, ими and их.

[edit] Pronouns [edit] Personal pronouns Plura l

Singular 1st

2nd

3rd

1st

2nd

3rd

Masc. Fem. Neut. (English)

I

you (singular)

he

she

it

we

you (plural)

they

Nominative

я

ты

он

она́

оно́

мы

вы

они́

Accusative

меня́

тебя́

его́

её

его́

нас

вас

их

Genitive

меня́

тебя́

его́

её

его́

нас

вас

их

Dative

мне

тебе́

ему́

ей

ему́

нам

вам

им

Prepositional

обо мне о тебе́

о нём о ней о нём о наc о вас

о них

Instrumental

мной

им

и́ми

тобой́

ей

им

на́ми ва́ми

•

Russian is subject to T-V distinction. The respectful form of the singular you is the same as the plural form, but beginning with a capital letter: Вы, Вас, Вам etc. Compare the distinction between du, sie and Sie in German.

•

When a preposition is used directly before a 3rd-person pronoun, н- is prefixed: у него, с неё, etc. Because the prepositional case always occurs after a preposition, the third person prepositional always starts with an н-.

[edit] Demonstrative pronouns этот "this" and тот "that" masculine neuter feminine plural

masculine neuter feminine plural

Nominative

э́тот

это

э́та

э́ти

тот

то

та

те

Accusative

N or G

э́то

э́ту

N or G

N or G

то

ту

N or G

Genitive

э́того

э́того

э́той

э́тих

того́

того́

той

тех

Dative

э́тому

э́тому

э́той

э́тим

тому́

тому́ той

тем

Prepositional об э́том

об э́том об э́той об э́тих

о том

о том о той

о тех

Instrumental э́тим

э́тим

тем

тем

те́ми

э́той

э́тими

той

[edit] Possessive pronouns мой "my" and твой "your (sing.)" masculine neuter feminine plural

masculine neuter feminine plural

Nominative

мой

моё

моя

мои

твой

твоё

твоя

твои

Accusative

N or G

моё

мою

N or G

N or G

твоё

твою

N or G

Genitive

моего

моего моей

моих

твоего

твоего твоей

твоих

Dative

моему

моему моей

моим

твоему

твоему твоей

твоим

Prepositional о моём

о моём о моей

о моих

о твоём

о твоём о твоей о твоих

Instrumental моим

моим моей

моими

твоим

твоим

твоей

твоими

наш "our" and ваш "your (plur.)" masculine neuter feminine plural

masculine neuter feminine plural

Nominative

наш

наше

наша

наши

ваш

ваше

ваша

ваши

Accusative

N or G

наше

нашу

N or G

N or G

ваше

вашу

N or G

Genitive

нашего

нашего нашей

наших

вашего

вашего вашей

ваших

Dative

нашему

нашему нашей

нашим

вашему

вашему вашей

вашим

Prepositional о нашем

о о о нашей нашем наших

о вашем

о о о вашей вашем ваших

Instrumental нашим

нашим нашей

вашим

вашим вашей

•

нашим и

The third person possessive pronouns его (masc./neut. sing.), её (fem. sing.) and их (plural) are invariant genitive forms.

[edit] Interrogative pronouns кто "who" and что "what" кто

что

Nominative

кто

что

Accusative

кого

что

Genitive

кого

чего

Dative

кому

чему

Prepositional

о ком

о чём

Instrumental

кем

чем

вашими

чей "whose" masculine

neuter

feminine

plural

Nominative

чей

чьё

чья

чьи

Accusative

N or G

чьё

чью

N or G

Genitive

чьего

чьего

чьей

чьих

Dative

чьему

чьему

чьей

чьим

Prepositional

о чьём

о чьём

о чьей

о чьих

Instrumental

чьим

чьим

чьей

чьими

[edit] Numbers Cardinal Numbers •

0 ноль or нуль

•

1 один одна одно (раз is used when counting)

•

2 два (m., n.), две (f.)

•

3 три

•

4 четыре

•

5 пять

•

6 шесть

•

7 семь

•

8 восемь

•

9 девять

•

10 десять

Ordinal Numbers Nominative case, masculine. •

1st первый

•

2nd второй

•

3rd третий

•

4th четвëртый

•

5th пятый

•

6th шестой

•

7th седьмой

•

8th восьмой

•

9th девятый

•

10th десятый

[edit] Verbs Grammatical conjugation is subject to three persons in two numbers and two simple tenses (present/future and past), with periphrastic forms for the future and subjunctive, as well as imperative forms and present/past participles, distinguished by adjectival and adverbial usage (see adjectival participle and adverbial participle). There are two voices, active and middle/passive, which is constructed by the addition of a reflexive suffix -ся /сь/- to the active form. An interesting feature is that the past tense is actually made to agree in gender with the subject, for it is the participle in an originally periphrastic perfect tense formed with the present of быть [bɨtʲ] (like the perfect passive tense in Latin), "to be", which is now omitted except for rare archaic effect, usually in set phrases (откуда есть пошла русская земля [ɐˈtkudə jesʲtʲ pɐˈʂla ˈruskəjə zʲɪˈmlʲa], "whence is come the Russian land", the opening of the Primary Chronicle in modern spelling). Verbal inflection today is considerably simpler than in Old Russian. The ancient aorist, imperfect, and (periphrastic) pluperfect tenses have been lost, though the aorist sporadically occurs in secular literature as late as the second half of the eighteenth century, and survives as an odd form in direct narration (а он пойди да скажи [ɐ on pɐj ˈdʲi də skɐˈʐɨ], etc., exactly equivalent to the English colloquial "so he goes and says"), recategorized as a usage of the imperative. The loss of three of the former six tenses has been offset by the development, as in other Slavic languages, of verbal aspect. Most verbs come in pairs, one with imperfective or continuous connotation, the other with perfective or completed, usually formed with a (prepositional) prefix, but occasionally using a different root. E.g., спать [spatʲ] (to sleep) is imperfective; поспать [pɐˈspatʲ](to take a nap) is perfective. The present tense of the verb быть is today normally used only in the third-person singular form, which is often used for all the persons and numbers. As late as the nineteenth century, the full conjugation, which today is never used, was somewhat more natural: forms occur in the Synodal Bible, in Dostoevsky and in the bylinas (былины [bɨ ˈlʲinɨ]) or oral folk-epics, which were transcribed at that time. The paradigm shows as well as anything else the Indo-European affinity of Russian:

English

Russian

IPA

Latin

Classical Greek

"I am"

(есмь)

[jesʲmʲ]

sum

eimi

"you are" (sing.)

(еси)

[ˈjesʲɪ]

es

ei

"he, she, it is"

есть

[jesʲtʲ]

est

esti

"we are"

(есмы)

[ˈjɛsmɨ]

sumus

esmen

"you are" (plur.)

(есте)

[jesʲtʲe]

estis

este

"they are"

суть

[sutʲ]

sunt

eisi

[edit] Present-future tense There are two forms used to conjugate the present tense of imperfective verbs and the future tense of perfective verbs. The first conjugation (I) is used in verb stems ending in a consonant, -у, or -о, or in -а when not preceded by a sibilant: •

-у/-ю, -ешь, -ет, -ем, -ете, -ут/-ют •

-у/-ут is used after a hard consonant, a vowel or ш, щ or ч; otherwise -ю/ют is used.

•

A mutating ultimate consonant may cause ending change.

•

е becomes ё when stressed.

The second conjugation (II) is used in verb stems ending in -и or -е, or in -а when preceded by a sibilant: •

-у/-ю, -ишь, -ит, -им, -ите, -ат/ят •

-у/-ат is used after a hard consonant, a vowel or ш, щ or ч; otherwise -ю/ят is used.

•

Similar to the conjugation I, a mutating ultimate consonant may change an ending. Example: попро-сить — попро-шу, попро-сят [pəprɐˈsʲitʲ, pəprɐˈʂu, pɐ ˈprosʲɪt] (to have solicited — [I, they] will have solicited).

[edit] Past tense The Russian past tense is gender specific: –л for masculine singular subjects, –ла for

feminine singular subjects, –ло for neuter singular subjects, and –ли for plural subjects. This gender specificity applies to all persons; thus, to say "I slept", a male speaker would say я спал, while a female speaker would say я спала.

[edit] Examples [edit] First conjugation вернуть — to return [something] (stem: верн–) я верну

I will return

ты вернёшь

you will return

он, она, оно вернёт

he, she, it will return

мы вернём

we will return

вы вернёте

you will return

они вернут

they will return

читать — to read (stem: чита–) я читаю

I read (am reading, do read)

ты читаешь

you read (are reading, do read)

он, она, оно читает

he, she, it reads (is reading, does read)

мы читаем

we read (are reading, do read)

вы читаете

you (plural/formal) read (are reading, do read)

они читают

they read (are reading, do read)

[edit] Second conjugation говорить — to speak (stem: говор–) я говорю

I speak (am speaking, do speak)

ты говоришь

you speak (are speaking, do speak)

он, она, оно говорит

he, she, it speaks (is speaking, does speak)

мы говорим

we speak (are speaking, do speak)

вы говорите

you (plural/formal) speak (are speaking, do speak)

они говорят

they speak (are speaking, do speak)

[edit] Irregular verbs The following verbs have a stem change. The stem part of the verb is in the parentheses. The endings are regular. брать (бер–) — to take беру, берёшь, берёт, берём ,берёте, берут вести (вед–) — to lead веду, ведёшь, ведёт, ведём, ведёте, ведут жить (жив–) — to live живу, живёшь, живёт, живём, живёте, живут звать (зов–) — to call зову, зовёшь, зовёт, зовём, зовёте, зовут давать (да–) — to give даю, даёшь, даёт, даём, даёте, дают идти (ид–) — to go иду, идёшь, идёт, идём, идёте, идут писать (пиш-) — to write (notice the с becomes a ш) пишу, пишешь, пишет, пишем, пишете, пишут The following verbs endings do not conform to the first or second conjugations. дать — to give дам, дашь, даст, дадим, дадите, дадут есть — to eat ем, ешь, ест, едим, едите, едят The following verbs are irregular in the first person. Notice the д becomes ж in the first person. This is a common irregularity on stems ending with д. ходить (ход–) — to walk

хожу, ходишь, ходит, ходим, ходите, ходят ездить (езд–) — to travel езжу, ездишь, ездит, ездим, ездите, ездят видеть (вид–) — to see вижу, видишь, видит, видим, видите, видят

[edit] Word formation Russian has on hand a set of prefixes, prepositional and adverbial in nature, as well as diminutive, augmentative, and frequentative suffixes and infixes. All of these can be stacked one upon the other, to produce multiple derivatives of a given word. Participles and other inflexional forms may also have a special connotation. For example: мысль

[mɨsʲlʲ]

"thought"

мыслишка

[mɨˈsʲlʲiʂkə]

"a petty, cute or a silly thought"

мыслища

[mɨˈsʲlʲiɕːə]

"a thought of fundamental import"

мышление

[mɨˈʂlʲenʲɪjɪ]

"thought; abstract thinking, ratiocination"

мыслить

[ˈmɨsʲlʲɪtʲ]

"to think (as to cogitate)"

смысл

[smɨsl]

"meaning"

осмыслить

[ɐˈsmɨsʲlʲɪtʲ]

"to comprehend; to rationalize"

переосмысли [pʲɪrʲɪɐˈsmɨsʲlʲɪtʲ] ть

"to reassess"

переосмысли [pʲɪrʲɪɐˈsmɨsʲlʲɪvətʲ] вать

"to be in the process of reassessing (something)"

переосмысли [pʲɪrʲɪɐ ваемый ˈsmɨsʲlʲɪvəjɪmɨj]

"(something) in the process of being considered in a new light"

бессмыслица [bʲɪˈsmɨsʲlʲɪtsə]

"nonsense"

обессмыслит [əbʲɪˈsmɨsʲlʲɪtʲ] ь

"to render meaningless"

бессмысленн [bʲɪˈsmɨsʲlʲɪnːɨj] ый

"meaningless"

обессмыслен [əbʲɪˈsmɨsʲlʲɪnːɨj] ный

"rendered meaningless"

необессмысл [nʲɪəbʲɪˈsmɨsʲlʲɪnːɨj] енный

"not rendered meaningless"

Russian has also proved friendly to agglutinative compounds. As an extreme case: металлоломообеспечен [mʲɪtəlɐˌlomɐɐbʲɪˈsʲpʲeʨɪnʲjɪ] ие

"provision of scrap iron"

металлоломообеспечен [mʲɪtəlɐˌlomɐɐbʲɪˈsʲpʲeʨɪnːɨj] ный

"well supplied with scrap iron"

Purists (as Dmitry Ushakov in the preface to his dictionary) frown on such words. But here is the name of a street in St. Petersburg: Каменноостровский проспект

[ˌkamʲɪnːɐˈɐstrəvskʲɪj prɐˈsʲpʲɛkt]

"Stone Island Avenue"

Some linguists have suggested that Russian agglutination stems from Church Slavonic. In the twentieth century, abbreviated components appeared in the compound: управдо [uprɐˈvdom]=управляющий м домом

[uprɐˈvlʲajuɕːɪj ˈdoməm]

"residence manager"

[edit] Syntax The basic word order, both in conversation and the written language, is Subject Verb Object in transitive clauses, and free word order in intransitive clauses. However, because the relations are marked by inflection, considerable latitude in word order is allowed even in transitive clauses, and all the permutations can be used. For example, the words in the phrase "я пошёл в магазин" (I went to the shop) can be arranged •

Я пошёл в магазин.

•

Я в магазин пошёл.

•

Пошёл я в магазин.

•

Пошёл в магазин я.

•

В магазин я пошёл.

•

В магазин пошёл я.

while maintaining grammatical correctness.

The word order expresses the logical stress, and the degree of definiteness. Primary emphasis tends to be initial, with a slightly weaker emphasis at the end.

[edit] Negation Like most other languages but unlike English, multiple negatives are compulsory in Russian, as in никто никогда никому ничего не прощает [nʲɪˈkto nʲɪkɐˈgda nʲɪkɐˈmu nʲɪʨɪˈvo nʲɪ prɐˈɕːajɪt] "No-one ever forgives anyone for anything" (literally, "no-one never to no-one nothing does not forgive").

[edit] Coordination The most common types of coordination expressed by compound sentences in Russian are conjoining (Соединительные отношения), oppositional (Противительные отношения), and separative (Разделительные отношения). Additionally, the Russian grammar considers comparative (сопоставительные), complemental (присоединительные), and clarifying (пояснительные). Other flavors of the meanings may also be distinguished. Conjoining coordinations are formed with the help of the conjunctions "и", "да", "ни...ни" (simultaneous negation), также, тоже (the latter two have complemental flavor). Most commonly the conjoining coordination expresses enumeration, simultaneity or immediate sequence. They may also have a cause-effect flavor. Oppositional coordinations are formed with the help of the oppositional conjunctions а, но, да, однако, зато, же, etc. They express the semantic relations of opposition, comparison, incompatibility, restriction, or compensation. Separative coordinations are formed with the help of the separative conjunctions или, либо, ли...ли, то...то, etc., and are used to express alternation or incompatibility of things expressed in the coordinated sentences. Complemental and clarifying coordination expresses additional, but not subordinated, information related to the first sentence. Comparative coordination is a semantical flavor of the oppositional one. Common coordinating conjunctions include: •

и [i] "and", enumerative, complemental;

•

а [a] "and", comparative, tending to "but";

•

но [no] "but", oppositional;

•

ибо [ˈibə] "for", clarifying.

The distinction between и and а is important. И implies a following complemental state that does not oppose the antecedent. А implies a following state that acts in opposition to the antecedent, but more weakly than но "but". The Catherine manuscript of the Song of Igor, 1790s они уехали, и мы уезжаем

[ɐˈnʲi uˈjɛxəlʲɪ] [ɪ ˈmɨ ujɪˈʑːajɪm]

they have departed and we are departing

они уехали, а мы уезжаем

[ɐˈnʲi uˈjɛxəlʲɪ] [ɐ ˈmɨ ujɪˈʑːajɪm]

they have departed, while (but) we are (still) departing

они уехали, [ɐˈnʲi uˈjɛxəlʲɪ] но мы приезжаем [nɐ ˈmɨ prʲɪjɪˈʑːajɪm]

they have departed, but we are arriving

The distinction between и and а developed after the medieval period; originally, и and а were closer in meaning. The unpunctuated ending of the Song of Igor illustrates the potential confusion. The final five words in modern spelling, князьям слава а дружине аминь [knʲɐˈzʲjam ˈslavə ə druˈʐɨnʲɪ ɐˈmʲinʲ] can be understood either as "Glory to the princes and to their host! Amen." or "Glory to the princes, and amen (R.I.P.) to their troops". Although majority opinion is definitely with the first interpretation, there is no full consensus. The psychological difference between the two is quite obvious.

[edit] Subordination Complementizers (subordinating conjunctions, adverbs, or adverbial phrases) include: •

если [ˈjesʲlʲɪ] if;

•

потому что [pətɐˈmu ʂtə], так как [tak kak] because

•

чтобы [ˈʂtobɨ] in order to

•

после того, как [ˈposʲlʲɪ tɐˈvo kək] after

•

хотя [xɐˈtʲa] although

In general, there are fewer subordinate clauses than in English, because the participles (причастие [prʲɪˈʨasʲtʲɪjɪ]) and adverbial participles (деепричастие [dʲɪjɪprʲɪˈʨasʲtʲɪjɪ]) often take the place of a relative pronoun/verb combination. For example: Вот человек, потерявший надежду.

[vot ʨɪlɐˈvʲɛk] [pətʲɪˈrʲavʂɨj nɐˈdʲɛʐdu]

Here (is) a man who has lost (all) hope. [lit. having lost hope]

Гуляя по городу, всегда останавливаюсь у Ростральных колонн.

[guˈlʲajɪ pɐ ˈgorədu vsʲɪgˈda] [əstɐˈnavlʲɪvəjusʲ u rɐˈstralʲnɨx [kɐˈlon]

When I go for a walk in the city, I always pause by the Rostral Columns.

[lit. Walking in the city, I...]

[edit] Absolute construction Despite the inflexional nature of Russian there is no equivalent in the modern language to the English nominative absolute or the Latin ablative absolute construction. The old language had an absolute construction, with the noun put into the dative. Like so many other archaisms, it is retained in Church Slavonic. Among the last known examples in literary Russian occurs in Radishchev's Journey from Petersburg to Moscow (Путешествие из Петербурга в Москву [putʲɪˈʂɛstvʲɪjɪ ɪs pʲɪtʲɪrˈburgə v mɐˈskvu]), 1790: •

Едущу мне из Едрова, Анюта из мысли моей не выходила. [ˈjeduɕːu mnʲe ɪzʲ jɪˈdrovə, ɐˈnʲutə ɪz ˈmɨsʲlʲɪ mɐˈjej nʲɪ vɨxɐˈdʲilə] "As I was leaving Yedrovo village, I could not stop thinking about Aniuta."